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Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Simulation game?
Simulation + Grid-Based Movement
Of 74 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Simulation 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.. 122 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $59k, ×94 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 122 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) |
| Top 5% | $59k (exactly $59,226) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 74 |
| Released games | 213 |
| Announced | 122 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Grid-Based Movement; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Turn-Based Tactics
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,115 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
TRIANGLE STRATEGY 2022 · $5.8M 
Mashinky 2018 · EA · $1.8M 
Field of Glory II: Medieval 2021 · $381k 
Mercenaries Blaze 2021 · $336k 
Shardpunk 2023 · $310k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TRIANGLE STRATEGY | older | $59.99 | 3,239 78% | 97k | $5.8M (exactly $5,829,228) | Square Enix, ARTDINK |
| | Mashinky | · EA older | $24.99 | 2,361 84% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,770,042) | Jan Zelený |
| | Field of Glory II: Medieval | older | $29.99 | 424 86% | 13k | $381k (exactly $381,473) | Byzantine Games |
| | Mercenaries Blaze | older | $19.99 | 561 75% | 17k | $336k (exactly $336,432) | ESQUADRA,inc., RideonJapan |
| | Shardpunk | older | $13.99 | 739 92% | 22k | $310k (exactly $310,158) | Clockwork Pile |
 | Wayward | · EA older | $7.99 | 1,213 86% | 36k | $291k (exactly $290,756) | Unlok |
 | Death Crown | older | $12.99 | 516 89% | 15k | $201k (exactly $201,085) | 5WORD Team |
 | TINY METAL | older | $24.99 | 265 69% | 8.0k | $199k (exactly $198,670) | AREA 35, Inc. |
 | Möbius Front '83 | older | $19.99 | 328 74% | 9.8k | $197k (exactly $196,702) | Zachtronics |
 | Space Prison | older | $19.99 | 271 84% | 8.1k | $163k (exactly $162,519) | Wooden Alien |
 | GRIDROAD | $9.99 | 385 82% | 12k | $115k (exactly $115,384) | RAJACORP | |
 | Mythmatch | $19.99 | 124 98% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | Team Artichoke | |
 | Gales of Nayeli | $24.99 | 87 88% | 2.6k | $65k (exactly $65,224) | Blindcoco Studios | |
 | Icaria | $24.99 | 79 75% | 2.4k | $59k (exactly $59,226) | Blindsight Games LLC | |
 | Tiny Garden | $12.99 | 108 85% | 3.2k | $42k (exactly $42,088) | Ao Norte | |
 | RED DAWN | · EA | $12.99 | 84 91% | 2.5k | $33k (exactly $32,735) | Dynamic Duo Games |
 | A Little Age | $14.99 | 61 62% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Benerot | |
 | Beacon Patrol | $11.99 | 70 97% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $25,179) | Shapes and Dreams, BrutalHack | |
 | Chronomon | · EA | $9.99 | 79 83% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | Stone Golem Studios |
 | Dragonero | $19.99 | 38 68% | 1.1k | $23k (exactly $22,789) | Operaludica |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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