Do I ship it?

GamesTurn-Based StrategyTurn-Based Strategy + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Life Sim

Of 33 developers who shipped a Life Sim Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 48 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×763 the market median. Revenue is up 860% on the market; 48 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 860% on the market, 48 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.9k → $359 → $838 → $359 → $8.8k → $1.8k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $8.8k (exactly $8,807)
Top 5% $479k (exactly $479,380)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 75
Announced 48
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 860% on the market, supply 75% 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.

Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Strategy, Life Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy, Simulation
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 4,369 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $8.8k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
60 Parsecs! older $9.99 3,310 90% 99k $992k (exactly $992,007) Robot Gentleman
Politics The Game $9.99 2,526 95% 76k $757k (exactly $757,042) Simplicity Games
Timeflow – Life Sim · EA older $14.99 1,379 91% 41k $620k (exactly $620,136) Digital Geckos
Consume Me $14.99 1,066 91% 32k $479k (exactly $479,380) Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee… (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Choice of Life: Middle Ages older $4.99 1,752 89% 53k $262k (exactly $262,274) Blazing Planet Studio
Feed the Scorchpot $14.99 371 87% 11k $167k (exactly $166,839) Moravian
I Am Your President older $14.99 263 66% 7.9k $118k (exactly $118,271) President
This Grand Life older $11.99 222 75% 6.7k $80k (exactly $79,853) Poking Water Games
Trapper: Drug Dealing RPG · EA older $19.99 102 88% 3.1k $61k (exactly $61,169) Lathon Gaming
Dragon Creek older $14.99 133 87% 4.0k $60k (exactly $59,810)
Sky Realm Idle $6.99 115 73% 3.5k $24k (exactly $24,116) 323Game
SELF MADE: Investment Life Sim $14.99 52 84% 1.6k $23k (exactly $23,384) Billmeade Gaming
Lucky Lord: The Coin Pusher of Fate $7.99 83 77% 2.5k $20k (exactly $19,895) Star Seeker Studio
Dictator Simulator: Gradnar $4.99 84 97% 2.5k $13k (exactly $12,575) GortagonGame
群島物語 - 實習鍊金術士的 90 天之旅 $10.99 27 92% 810 $8.9k (exactly $8,902) 矓矓矓, 耶黑XDD
Punch to Glory $6.99 42 92% 1.3k $8.8k (exactly $8,807) Musa GUNGOR
Pharma R&D Manager $49.99 3 66% 90 $4.5k (exactly $4,499) Innopede GmbH

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