Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Grid-Based Movement

Of 53 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Resource Management 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.. 117 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $53k, ×113 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 117 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 150% on the market, 117 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.8k → $1.8k → $449 → $5.8k → $539 → $1.0k → $1.3k (still earning) → $5.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,662)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $53,514)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 138
Announced 117
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.00

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 150% on the market, supply 180% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Resource Management
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
Resource Management, Grid-Based Movement; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Procedural Generation
Price point
$6.00 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 791 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $5.6k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 117 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mashinky 2018 · EA · $1.8M Shardpunk 2023 · $310k Save Room - Organization Puzzle 2022 · $182k Veterum 2026 · $122k The Dragoness: Command of the Flame 2022 · $80k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mashinky · EA older $24.99 2,361 84% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) Jan Zelený
Shardpunk older $13.99 739 92% 22k $310k (exactly $310,158) Clockwork Pile
Save Room - Organization Puzzle older $2.99 2,033 97% 61k $182k (exactly $182,360) Fractal Projects
Veterum $19.99 204 85% 6.1k $122k (exactly $122,339) Crasleen Games
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame older $19.99 134 67% 4.0k $80k (exactly $80,360) Crazy Goat Games
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
Machinefall $14.99 119 82% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) by Jan Zizka
Toads of the Bayou $9.99 137 72% 4.1k $41k (exactly $41,059) La Grange
Can't Live Without Electricity older $4.99 229 94% 6.9k $34k (exactly $34,281) MELOVITY
The Sealed Ampoule older $19.99 56 80% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) CAVYHOUSE
Ex Sanguis · EA $19.99 45 77% 1.4k $27k (exactly $26,986) Lightbulb Crew
Astro Protocol $11.99 66 93% 2.0k $24k (exactly $23,740) Null Vector Studios
Areteion $19.99 17 94% 510 $10k (exactly $10,195) juxtapositioned
CorgiSpace $4.99 62 96% 1.9k $9.3k (exactly $9,281) Adam Saltsman
Towers of Scale · EA $9.99 26 100% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Makiki
Yclept $6.99 36 86% 1.1k $7.5k (exactly $7,549) Artur Shevale, Valerii Mukshin

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