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Should I ship an Idler Wargame?
Wargame + Idler
Of 21 developers who shipped an Idler Wargame 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.. 25 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×234 the market median. Revenue is up 285% on the market; 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,197) |
| Top 25% | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) |
| Top 5% | $147k (exactly $146,716) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 285% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, 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
- Wargame, Idler; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Minimalist
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 1,275 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Wargame with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + NavalFair
- + TabletopFair
- + LogicFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + StealthPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
Ages of Conflict: World War Simulator 2023 · EA · $1.9M 
Fantasy Map Simulator 2024 · EA · $1.0M 
👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） 2022 · $298k 
Age of Clicks 2026 · EA · $184k 
👑Idle Calibur：Zero💕（选王之剑：零） 2024 · $147k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | 👑 Idle Calibur 👑（选王之剑） | older | $7.99 | 1,242 85% | 37k | $298k (exactly $297,707) | 绝汪 |
| | Age of Clicks | · EA | $12.99 | 472 65% | 14k | $184k (exactly $183,938) | David Ius |
| | 👑Idle Calibur：Zero💕（选王之剑：零） | $10.99 | 445 80% | 13k | $147k (exactly $146,716) | 绝汪 | |
 | 希望之城 The City Of Hope | older | $6.99 | 126 68% | 3.8k | $26k (exactly $26,422) | 家里蹲工作室 |
 | Riftborne | · EA | $7.99 | 108 91% | 3.2k | $26k (exactly $25,888) | Pitio Productions |
 | The Dawn: Sniper's Way | $24.99 | 18 22% | 540 | $13k (exactly $13,495) | PHOSPHORUS GAMES | |
 | Automata Empire | older | $8.99 | 48 66% | 1.4k | $13k (exactly $12,946) | Nonadecimal Creative |
 | Hydra Heli | $4.99 | 83 91% | 2.5k | $12k (exactly $12,425) | Ideas Per Second | |
 | Battle Synth | $4.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) | Cow Games | |
 | Open The Gate: Just A Little | $5.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $6.6k (exactly $6,649) | Abubu Dance | |
 | Hydra Heli 2 | $6.99 | 30 80% | 900 | $6.3k (exactly $6,291) | Ideas Per Second | |
 | Stellar Industrialist | $2.99 | 18 88% | 540 | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) | PcZ Games | |
 | Cannon Clicker | $5.99 | 8 75% | 240 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Ritual Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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