Games › Tactical › Tactical + Life Sim
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.
| 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.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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