Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Mahjong

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mahjong Strategy game?

Strategy + Mahjong

Of 37 developers who shipped a Mahjong 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.. 34 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $780, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 34 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 34 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Mahjong
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $9.0k → $14k → $748 → $2.3k → $1.2k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Mahjong: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $779 (exactly $779)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,341)
Top 5% $666k (exactly $665,778)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 65
Announced 34
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 up 65% on the market, supply 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Mahjong
effort 1 / 10 · high · effort 1 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy, Mahjong; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Board Game, Card Game, Tabletop
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 6,241 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $780, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $660k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 27 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

Demonic Mahjong 2025 · $2.0M Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns 2026 · $666k Aotenjo: Infinite Hands 2025 · EA · $287k Mahjong World Contest (麻将) 2016 · $87k Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition 2015 · $84k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Demonic Mahjong $16.99 3,875 95% 116k $2.0M (exactly $1,975,087) Boxed Lighting Games
Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns $29.99 740 80% 22k $666k (exactly $665,778) ILLUMINATION
Aotenjo: Infinite Hands · EA $9.99 958 87% 29k $287k (exactly $287,113) XO Cat
Mahjong World Contest (麻将) older $14.99 193 88% 5.8k $87k (exactly $86,792) Creobit
Mahjong Pretty Girls Battle : School Girls Edition older $14.99 187 64% 5.6k $84k (exactly $84,094) Zoo Corporation
Feng Shui Meowjong $4.99 276 95% 8.3k $41k (exactly $41,317) Wavebreak Studio
纵横麻将 Matrix Mahjong $9.99 66 90% 2.0k $20k (exactly $19,780) Chao8games
Kungfu Card · EA $4.99 125 73% 3.8k $19k (exactly $18,712) ZeroCastle Game Studio, Miwu Studio
The Mahjong Huntress older $4.99 119 61% 3.6k $18k (exactly $17,814) Nawia Games
dirtbag MAHJONG $9.99 51 96% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) paranoodle
Anomaly Mahjong $4.99 94 65% 2.8k $14k (exactly $14,072) YUTAMARO WORLD
Agari — Riichi Mahjong $6.99 27 96% 810 $5.7k (exactly $5,662) Ryan Sullenberger
Guandan $4.99 29 89% 870 $4.3k (exactly $4,341) Pixel Dance

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