Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Tactical game?

Tactical + Life Sim

Of 37 developers who shipped a Life Sim Tactical 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×166 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 51 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 51 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $35k → $269 → $716 → $3.2k → $449 → $1.8k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $600 (exactly $600)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Top 25% $6.9k (exactly $6,920)
Top 5% $104k (exactly $104,011)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 75
Announced 51
Effort 6 / 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 10% on the market, supply 110% 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Life Sim; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 1,920 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $6.9k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop older $10.99 9,176 93% 275k $3.0M (exactly $3,025,327) 落叶岛项目组, 橘子班
Tower! Simulator 3 older $59.99 1,047 67% 31k $1.9M (exactly $1,884,286) FeelThere
Ludus Magnatus: Gladiator Manager Simulator · EA $24.99 612 81% 18k $459k (exactly $458,816) Contec Games
Ninja Village older $8.99 546 93% 16k $147k (exactly $147,256) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
我的人生 $6.99 496 65% 15k $104k (exactly $104,011) ZZ Games
Ships 2017 older $19.99 156 32% 4.7k $94k (exactly $93,553) FragOut
PRINCIPIA: Master of Science · EA older $9.99 302 69% 9.1k $91k (exactly $90,509) tomeapp
CFS (Chinese Football Simulator) $9.99 290 67% 8.7k $87k (exactly $86,913) 悟空实验室
Business Simulator 2026 · EA $11.99 178 74% 5.3k $64k (exactly $64,027) HOGO Games
Don't Cheat On Me older $7.99 253 46% 7.6k $61k (exactly $60,644) A Normal Monkey Studios
Tennis Manager 25 $19.99 76 68% 2.3k $46k (exactly $45,577) Rebound
Medic: Pacific War · EA $9.99 143 70% 4.3k $43k (exactly $42,857) Hypnotic Ants
Under the Disco Lights - 80's Bar Simulator $9.99 34 85% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) Efsus Games
City Supermarket Simulator $9.99 32 75% 960 $9.6k (exactly $9,590) FunPlay Dev
Project Breakout $9.99 26 65% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) maxkerpen
Crypto Trading Simulator · EA $6.99 33 75% 990 $6.9k (exactly $6,920) SUMER

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