Do I ship it?

Games › Hex Grid › Hex Grid + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hex Grid Resource Management game?

Hex Grid + Resource Management

Of 59 developers who shipped a Hex Grid 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.. 105 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 $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×460 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 105 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 105 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hex Grid + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 59
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $34k → $2.6k → $1.8k → $2.6k → $7.2k → $2.1k → $4.6k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hex Grid + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 59
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,155)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,639)
Top 5% $219k (exactly $218,627)
Developers, 2 yr 59
Released games 129
Announced 105
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Hex Grid
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Hex Grid, Resource Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Management, Simulation
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 7,123 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Local MultiplayerFair12 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  2. + Open WorldPoor odds12 devs · median $24k · 20 announced
  3. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $19k · 18 announced
  4. + Turn-BasedPoor odds22 devs · median $13k · 35 announced
  5. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $12k · 40 announced
  6. + ExplorationPoor odds35 devs · median $12k · 55 announced
  7. + RPGPoor odds39 devs · median $10k · 96 announced
  8. + Strategy RPGPoor odds26 devs · median $10k · 60 announced
  9. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $9.9k · 60 announced
  10. + Card BattlerPoor odds12 devs · median $8.2k · 29 announced
  11. + RoguelitePoor odds42 devs · median $7.9k · 101 announced
  12. + RoguelikePoor odds37 devs · median $7.8k · 102 announced

All 69 pairs on the Hex Grid page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Crying Suns 2019 · $2.4M Thea: The Awakening 2015 · $2.0M Plan B: Terraform 2025 · $1.7M Ascension 2025 · EA · $1.5M Fantasy General II 2019 · $1.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Crying Suns older $24.99 3,149 85% 94k $2.4M (exactly $2,360,805) Alt Shift
Thea: The Awakening older $19.99 3,318 87% 100k $2.0M (exactly $1,989,805) MuHa Games
Plan B: Terraform $15.99 3,526 91% 106k $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) Gaddy Games
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
Fantasy General II older $39.99 1,034 82% 31k $1.2M (exactly $1,240,490) Owned by Gravity
As Far As The Eye older $24.99 1,640 73% 49k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,508) Unexpected
Sheltered 2 older $19.99 2,015 45% 60k $1.2M (exactly $1,208,396) Unicube
Tales & Tactics older $17.99 1,737 80% 52k $937k (exactly $937,459) Table 9 Studio
TerraScape older $14.99 2,068 88% 62k $930k (exactly $929,980) Bitfall Studios
Before We Leave older $19.99 1,278 78% 38k $766k (exactly $766,417) Balancing Monkey Games
MoteMancer · EA $29.99 243 91% 7.3k $219k (exactly $218,627) CyanAvatar Studios
Veterum $19.99 204 85% 6.1k $122k (exactly $122,339) Crasleen Games
Humanica · EA $14.99 192 93% 5.8k $86k (exactly $86,342) PanfachDev
High Seas, High Profits! $14.99 165 86% 5.0k $74k (exactly $74,200) lexy.zip
Imperial Ambitions $19.99 101 81% 3.0k $61k (exactly $60,570) aoiti
Folk Emerging $24.99 73 86% 2.2k $55k (exactly $54,728) Curious Dynamics
The Dead Await $12.99 108 67% 3.2k $42k (exactly $42,088) Shotx
Mistward $11.99 74 59% 2.2k $27k (exactly $26,618) Sokpop Collective

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