Games › Management › Management + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Management game?
Management + Psychological
Of 30 developers who shipped a Psychological Management 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×275 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 63 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,691) |
| Top 25% | $5.6k (exactly $5,561) |
| Top 5% | $173k (exactly $172,788) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 63 |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 17,052 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
This War of Mine 2014 · $49M 
The Alters 2025 · $16M 
Honey, I Joined a Cult 2022 · $1.1M 
All Quiet in the Trenches 2024 · EA · $690k 
Mind Scanners 2021 · $558k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | This War of Mine | older | $19.99 | 81,804 93% | 2.5M | $49M (exactly $49,057,859) | 11 bit studios |
| | The Alters | $34.99 | 15,330 90% | 460k | $16M (exactly $16,091,901) | 11 bit studios | |
| | Honey, I Joined a Cult | older | $25.99 | 1,380 73% | 41k | $1.1M (exactly $1,075,986) | Sole Survivor Games |
| | All Quiet in the Trenches | · EA older | $24.99 | 921 90% | 28k | $690k (exactly $690,474) | Totally Not Aliens |
| | Mind Scanners | older | $16.99 | 1,095 78% | 33k | $558k (exactly $558,122) | The Outer Zone |
 | Still There | older | $14.99 | 770 87% | 23k | $346k (exactly $346,269) | GhostShark |
 | My Child Lebensborn Remastered | older | $7.99 | 1,299 96% | 39k | $311k (exactly $311,370) | Teknopilot AS, Sarepta Studio AS |
 | Sex Change Contract and Molester Girl | $16.99 | 339 86% | 10k | $173k (exactly $172,788) | 狐狸姊姊（FoxSister） | |
 | The Boba Teashop | $4.99 | 1,041 95% | 31k | $156k (exactly $155,838) | Mike Ten | |
 | Interrogation: You will be deceived | older | $12.99 | 321 77% | 9.6k | $125k (exactly $125,094) | Critique Gaming |
 | [Bober Bros] Last Pill Bar | $5.99 | 68 91% | 2.0k | $12k (exactly $12,220) | BOBER BROS | |
 | The Ice Cream Shop | $4.99 | 63 79% | 1.9k | $9.4k (exactly $9,431) | odwar | |
 | The Plant Shop | $4.99 | 51 98% | 1.5k | $7.6k (exactly $7,635) | Tori | |
 | Midnight Mazesoba | $4.99 | 44 79% | 1.3k | $6.6k (exactly $6,587) | MagiStone Games | |
 | Little Lighthouse of Horror | $2.99 | 62 85% | 1.9k | $5.6k (exactly $5,561) | Codiwans | |
 | Orderly Havoc | $7.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | Angad Matharoo, Gabriel Larocque | |
 | The Suburbs | $3.99 | 36 75% | 1.1k | $4.3k (exactly $4,309) | The Sexy Chinaman |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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