Do I ship it?

Games › Simulation › Simulation + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Logic Simulation game?

Simulation + Logic

Of 517 developers who shipped a Logic Simulation 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.. 599 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $270. Revenue is flat on the market; 599 games are announced against 312 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 599 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 517
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.8k → $1.3k → $1.8k → $1.6k → $1.3k → $898 (still earning) → $748 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 517
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $7.3k (exactly $7,260)
Top 5% $190k (exactly $190,105)
Developers, 2 yr 517
Released games 1,413
Announced 599
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Logic
effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation, Logic; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Strategy, Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.37 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.37 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 56,586 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $900, 1 in 4 over $7.2k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 264 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 599 games are announced against 312 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator 2026 · $8.0M A Little to the Left 2022 · $7.6M Airport CEO 2021 · $5.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
shapez 2 - Factory $29.99 13,846 96% 415k $12M (exactly $12,457,246) tobspr Games
Dorfromantik older $13.99 27,441 96% 823k $12M (exactly $11,516,988) Toukana Interactive
IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator $19.99 13,278 97% 398k $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos
A Little to the Left older $14.99 16,885 91% 507k $7.6M (exactly $7,593,184) Max Inferno
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
Hacknet older $9.99 16,910 93% 507k $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) Team Fractal Alligator
shapez older $9.99 14,252 96% 428k $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) Tobias Springer
Opus Magnum older $19.99 5,964 97% 179k $3.6M (exactly $3,576,611) Zachtronics
Turing Complete · EA older $19.99 5,520 95% 166k $3.3M (exactly $3,310,344) LevelHead
Mind Over Magic $24.99 4,314 86% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) Sparkypants
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
Mars First Logistics $19.99 3,497 94% 105k $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) Shape Shop
Alchemy Factory $17.99 2,529 87% 76k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901) D5 Copperhead
Drop Duchy $14.99 2,962 89% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) Sleepy Mill Studio
Guilty as Sock! $5.50 4,836 89% 145k $798k (exactly $797,940) Demon Max
Little Rocket Lab $19.99 1,286 90% 39k $771k (exactly $771,214) Teenage Astronauts
Staffer Retro : A Supernatural Mystery Quest $24.99 922 89% 28k $691k (exactly $691,223) Team Tetrapod

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