Games › Turn-Based Tactics › Turn-Based Tactics + Life Sim
Should I ship a Life Sim Turn-Based Tactics?
Turn-Based Tactics + Life Sim
Of 41 developers who shipped a Life Sim Turn-Based Tactics 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.. 49 more are announced, ×2.0 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 $600; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×763 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 49 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $597 (exactly $597) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,575) |
| Top 5% | $479k (exactly $479,380) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 49 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 55% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Tactics
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Tactics, Life Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Time Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,001 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Tactics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + TanksFair
- + AutomationFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DiceFair
- + MiningFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + PlatformerLong shot
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 60 Seconds! Reatomized | older | $9.99 | 18,362 94% | 551k | $5.5M (exactly $5,503,091) | Robot Gentleman |
| | Punch Club 2: Fast Forward | older | $19.99 | 3,808 81% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,283,658) | Lazy Bear Games |
| | Bloomtown: A Different Story | $24.99 | 1,428 85% | 43k | $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572) | Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games | |
| | 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 | |
| | 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) | |
| | Escort Simulator | older | $19.99 | 215 61% | 6.5k | $129k (exactly $128,935) | Somavision Games |
| | Esports History | $9.99 | 387 77% | 12k | $116k (exactly $115,984) | Quantum Gear Studios | |
| | Virtual Ties: Isekaijoucho Träumerei | $34.99 | 93 91% | 2.8k | $98k (exactly $97,622) | ENTERGRAM,INC. | |
| | Laptop Tycoon | older | $7.99 | 400 74% | 12k | $96k (exactly $95,880) | Roastery Games |
| | Song's Fantasy | $7.99 | 229 55% | 6.9k | $55k (exactly $54,891) | 南十字座工作室 | |
| | 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 | |
| | Splash Shot Golf Legend | $19.99 | 22 54% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | TANUKIHOUSE |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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