Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Logic Strategy game?

Strategy + Logic

Of 914 developers who shipped a Logic Strategy 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.. 1,005 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 565 developers shipped in the last year and 1,005 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 1,005 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 914
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $1.1k → $628 → $600 → $599 → $449 → $270 (still earning) → $162 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 914
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.0k (exactly $2,035)
Top 5% $42k (exactly $42,088)
Developers, 2 yr 914
Released games 2,708
Announced 1,005
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 down 10% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Strategy
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
Strategy, Logic; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 34,266 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $42k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 479 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,005 games are announced against 565 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds50 devs · median $65k · 27 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair62 devs · median $16k · 74 announced
  3. + BaseballFair14 devs · median $7.5k · 7 announced
  4. + LGBTQ+Fair89 devs · median $6.7k · 91 announced
  5. + WuxiaFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 41 announced
  6. + FarmingFair44 devs · median $4.3k · 42 announced
  7. + Martial ArtsFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 94 announced
  8. + SubmarineFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  9. + NavalFair66 devs · median $2.2k · 88 announced
  10. + IdlerFair696 devs · median $1.9k · 988 announced
  11. + Shop KeeperFair159 devs · median $1.8k · 264 announced
  12. + HackingFair96 devs · median $1.2k · 132 announced

All 275 pairs on the Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

XCOM® 2 2016 · $48M shapez 2 - Factory 2026 · $12M Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M Baba Is You 2019 · $9.4M Word Game 2022 · $6.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
XCOM® 2 older $19.99 79,998 84% 2.4M $48M (exactly $47,974,801) Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
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
Baba Is You older $14.99 21,011 97% 630k $9.4M (exactly $9,448,647) Hempuli Oy
Word Game older $34.99 5,930 93% 178k $6.2M (exactly $6,224,721) Team9
Airport CEO older $24.99 7,752 83% 233k $5.8M (exactly $5,811,674) Apog Labs
shapez older $9.99 14,252 96% 428k $4.3M (exactly $4,271,324) Tobias Springer
Patrick's Parabox older $19.99 4,985 99% 150k $3.0M (exactly $2,989,504) Patrick Traynor
The Farmer Was Replaced $9.99 9,116 95% 273k $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) Timon Herzog
Cobalt Core older $19.99 4,067 95% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,438,980) Rocket Rat Games
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
The Artisan of Glimmith $12.99 2,513 97% 75k $979k (exactly $979,316) Lunarch Studios
The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition $24.99 836 72% 25k $627k (exactly $626,749) Blue Brain Games
Modulus: Factory Automation $24.99 817 90% 25k $613k (exactly $612,505) Happy Volcano
Subway Builder $39.99 394 59% 12k $473k (exactly $472,682) Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher,… (Colin Miller, EJ Fox, Curran Kelleher, Nate Maue, Alex Wohlbruck, Piero Maddaleni, Brooks Flannery)
Kaizen: A Factory Story $19.99 694 91% 21k $416k (exactly $416,192) Coincidence
Worldwide Rush $19.99 559 77% 17k $335k (exactly $335,232) Memel Games

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