Do I ship it?

Games › Programming › Programming + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Programming Grid-Based Movement game?

Programming + Grid-Based Movement

Of 23 developers who shipped a Programming Grid-Based Movement game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 24 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 24 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Programming + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $898 → $597 → $1.2k (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Programming + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 5% $14k (exactly $13,786)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 49
Announced 24
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 125% on the market, supply 260% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Programming
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Programming, Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Strategy, Automation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Isometric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 209 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $600, 1 in 4 over $1.1k, 1 in 20 over $13k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Programming with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Base BuildingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + Auto BattlerFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  4. + SandboxFair60 devs · median $7.0k · 71 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  6. + AutomationFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  7. + Turn-Based TacticsFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  8. + SimulationFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced
  9. + RobotsFair24 devs · median $1.8k · 29 announced
  10. + CrimeFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 13 announced
  11. + Sci-fiFair56 devs · median $1.7k · 63 announced
  12. + FuturisticFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 25 announced

All 57 pairs on the Programming page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Icaria 2026 · $59k CHR$(143) 2021 · $18k ALAN-13 Reformation 2022 · $16k Warp Factory 2021 · $14k NET.CRAWL 2026 · $14k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
CHR$(143) older $7.99 75 96% 2.3k $18k (exactly $17,978) Nicolas Jean
ALAN-13 Reformation older $15.99 34 82% 1.0k $16k (exactly $16,310) Viktor Kovács
Warp Factory older $9.99 47 93% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Milo Brandt
NET.CRAWL $9.99 46 95% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) Everyone is Solid
Kinetype · EA $6.99 36 83% 1.1k $7.5k (exactly $7,549) Morlytic
Chess Brain: Dark Troops older $2.99 64 93% 1.9k $5.7k (exactly $5,741) Caio Flavio
Chess Brain older $0.99 156 89% 4.7k $4.6k (exactly $4,633) Caio Flavio
SirKwitz 2 $8.99 14 100% 420 $3.8k (exactly $3,776) Predict Edumedia
Tiny Traffic older $2.99 38 100% 1.1k $3.4k (exactly $3,409) Virtual Turtle Games
Upalu Mundi $7.99 13 100% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) True Baboons
Pixel Forge $9.99 4 75% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) MELOVITY
Cal & Bomba $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Filiokus
Merge It $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Fewjix
Dungeon-Bot $8.99 3 100% 90 $809 (exactly $809) XREALL
GRID/ $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) NoeNoe Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.