Do I ship it?

Games › Political Sim › Political Sim + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Political Sim?

Political Sim + Idler

Of 20 developers who shipped an Idler Political Sim 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.. 14 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 14 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 14 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Political Sim + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.3k → $898 → $6.0k → $1.6k (still earning) → $600 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Political Sim + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,598)
Top 5% $184k (exactly $183,938)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 35
Announced 14
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 100% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Political Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Political Sim, Idler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Strategy, Management
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 63% positive over 790 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DetectiveFair10 devs · median $9.9k · 15 announced
  2. + Psychological HorrorFair10 devs · median $4.8k · 16 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair17 devs · median $832 · 16 announced
  4. + Board GameFair18 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  5. + TabletopFair12 devs · median $600 · 12 announced
  6. + CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  7. + Sci-fiPoor odds24 devs · median $17k · 33 announced
  8. + FuturisticPoor odds16 devs · median $15k · 27 announced
  9. + 4XPoor odds29 devs · median $12k · 50 announced
  10. + Cold WarPoor odds15 devs · median $9.9k · 23 announced
  11. + BuildingPoor odds37 devs · median $9.6k · 83 announced
  12. + SpacePoor odds14 devs · median $9.6k · 25 announced

All 72 pairs on the Political Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WorldBox - God Simulator 2021 · EA · $31M Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator 2023 · EA · $1.9M Fantasy Map Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.0M Age of Clicks 2026 · EA · $184k RUSSIAPHOBIA 2020 · $166k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WorldBox - God Simulator · EA older $19.99 51,071 95% 1.5M $31M (exactly $30,627,279) Maxim Karpenko
Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator · EA older $6.99 8,904 96% 267k $1.9M (exactly $1,867,169) JoySpark Games
Fantasy Map Simulator · EA older $7.99 4,190 89% 126k $1.0M (exactly $1,004,343) The Stranger
Age of Clicks · EA $12.99 472 65% 14k $184k (exactly $183,938) David Ius
RUSSIAPHOBIA older $0.99 5,589 69% 168k $166k (exactly $165,993) European Flameworms
Venture Towns older $8.99 114 75% 3.4k $31k (exactly $30,746) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Mr. Billion: Idle Rich Tycoon $6.99 77 53% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) U Master
GOOOAL older $2.99 92 88% 2.8k $8.3k (exactly $8,252) SmoochGM
MiniMap Kingdom older $2.99 83 84% 2.5k $7.4k (exactly $7,445) YuruOwO
Nuice Industries · EA $7.99 25 96% 750 $6.0k (exactly $5,992) CastleWind
Носковраздор $0.99 136 51% 4.1k $4.0k (exactly $4,039) BMBK Games
EmpireX - Business, Real Estate and Crime Simulator $14.99 8 75% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) darkwolf66
MEGACITY · EA $9.99 12 83% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Luke Wood
Grow Empire: Rome $3.99 28 64% 840 $3.4k (exactly $3,352) Games Station
Genesis Relic: Idle Sandbox Simulator $3.99 13 92% 390 $1.6k (exactly $1,556) BambooCopter
Billionaire in the Greedy America $7.99 6 83% 180 $1.4k (exactly $1,438) Pizza OK Games
CheeseMoney $2.99 13 23% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Gro… (Liang ZhiYa, Global People Holdings Group LLC, Song-Ya Network Systems (Guangzhou) Co Ltd)

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