Games › Strategy › Strategy + Hex Grid
Should I ship a Hex Grid Strategy game?
Strategy + Hex Grid
Of 200 developers who shipped a Hex Grid Strategy 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.. 360 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×468 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 360 games are announced against 116 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,518) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,285) |
| Top 5% | $294k (exactly $293,853) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 200 |
| Released games | 660 |
| Announced | 360 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 15% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Hex Grid; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 55% positive over 57,448 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 93 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 360 games are announced against 116 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI 2016 · $497M 
Sid Meier's Civilization® V 2010 · $115M 
Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M 
HUMANKIND™ 2021 · $33M 
For The King 2018 · $19M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI | older | $59.99 | 276,113 86% | 8.3M | $497M (exactly $496,920,566) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization® V | older | $29.99 | 128,186 95% | 3.8M | $115M (exactly $115,328,944) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization VII | $69.99 | 44,789 48% | 1.3M | $94M (exactly $94,043,463) | Firaxis Games | |
| | HUMANKIND™ | older | $49.99 | 22,165 68% | 665k | $33M (exactly $33,240,850) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | For The King | older | $19.99 | 31,038 87% | 931k | $19M (exactly $18,613,489) | IronOak Games |
 | Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ | older | $39.99 | 14,047 61% | 421k | $17M (exactly $16,852,186) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
 | ENDLESS Legend™ | older | $29.99 | 14,413 83% | 432k | $13M (exactly $12,967,376) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War | older | $39.99 | 8,148 82% | 244k | $9.8M (exactly $9,775,156) | Proxy Studios |
 | For The King II | older | $24.99 | 12,708 71% | 381k | $9.5M (exactly $9,527,188) | IronOak Games |
 | Armello | older | $24.99 | 11,013 82% | 330k | $8.3M (exactly $8,256,446) | League of Geeks |
 | Plan B: Terraform | $15.99 | 3,526 91% | 106k | $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) | Gaddy Games | |
 | The Last Flame | $19.99 | 2,744 85% | 82k | $1.6M (exactly $1,645,577) | Hotloop | |
 | Ascension | · EA | $19.99 | 2,437 60% | 73k | $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) | Element Game 微元游戏 |
 | Frosthaven | · EA | $39.99 | 814 72% | 24k | $977k (exactly $976,556) | Snapshot Games Inc. |
 | Those Who Rule | $17.99 | 1,116 89% | 33k | $602k (exactly $602,305) | Eldin Turulja | |
 | Kaizen: A Factory Story | $19.99 | 694 91% | 21k | $416k (exactly $416,192) | Coincidence | |
 | Inkshade | $19.99 | 620 87% | 19k | $372k (exactly $371,814) | Studio Vezelle | |
 | Disciples: Domination | $44.99 | 218 65% | 6.5k | $294k (exactly $294,235) | Artefacts Studio | |
 | Sandwalkers | $19.99 | 490 73% | 15k | $294k (exactly $293,853) | Goblinz Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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