Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Investigation

Of 38 developers who shipped an Investigation 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.. 89 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×570 the market median. Revenue is up 310% on the market; 89 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 310% on the market, 89 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $466k → $27k → $12k → $1.2k → $2.2k → $4.3k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,246)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,510)
Top 5% $271k (exactly $270,932)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 74
Announced 89
Effort 4 / 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 up 310% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Investigation
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Resource Management, Investigation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Life Sim
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 5,044 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $270k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 89 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Parcel Simulator 2025 · $1.5M Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M Nucleares 2023 · $504k USAC: Code Breach 2022 · $480k Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 2023 · $466k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Parcel Simulator $17.99 2,804 93% 84k $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) Dansan Digital
Obenseuer · EA older $19.99 1,684 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) Loiste Interactive
Nucleares older $14.99 1,121 84% 34k $504k (exactly $504,114) Iván Marcelo Pretti
USAC: Code Breach older $14.99 1,067 91% 32k $480k (exactly $479,830) Questions Factory
Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 older $14.99 1,036 68% 31k $466k (exactly $465,889) Fictiorama Studios
Photomaly $6.99 1,292 89% 39k $271k (exactly $270,932) Revira Interactive
Uncover the Smoking Gun older $19.99 414 96% 12k $248k (exactly $248,276) ReLU Games, Inc.
Repair this! older $6.99 786 88% 24k $165k (exactly $164,824) HGISoft
Edge of Sanity older $19.99 193 67% 5.8k $116k (exactly $115,742) Vixa Games
Airport X-Ray Simulator · EA $12.99 253 80% 7.6k $99k (exactly $98,594) Rainbow Lab
Anoxia Station $14.99 179 76% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Bonereaders
Airport Baggage Simulator $17.99 100 92% 3.0k $54k (exactly $53,970) Three River Games (3RG)
LAN Party Adventures $14.99 93 89% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) LEAP Game Studios
Drill and Delve $8.99 108 87% 3.2k $29k (exactly $29,128) noOne
Animaly Bar: NO HUMANITY! $4.99 98 90% 2.9k $15k (exactly $14,671) Domnaier
Serra de Deus $4.99 85 94% 2.6k $13k (exactly $12,724) David Pateti
BeatRider $11.99 32 53% 960 $12k (exactly $11,510) 无限电玩, Combo X Camp

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