Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Management game?

Management + Solitaire

Of 24 developers who shipped a Solitaire 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.. 17 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $450. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 17 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 40% on the market, 17 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $5.3k → $809 → $16k → $1.2k (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,197)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,184)
Top 5% $64k (exactly $64,494)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 51
Announced 17
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 40% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Management, Solitaire; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Automation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 1,504 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  11. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M Factory Planner 2026 · EA · $92k Dice People 2025 · $64k Pro Strategy Football 2023 2022 · $32k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stacklands older $7.99 29,244 96% 877k $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) Sokpop Collective
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
Factory Planner · EA $7.99 385 70% 12k $92k (exactly $92,284) Lebleby Games
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Pro Strategy Football 2023 older $14.99 71 84% 2.1k $32k (exactly $31,929) Kerry Batts
Pro Strategy Football 2022 older $12.99 81 86% 2.4k $32k (exactly $31,566) Kerry Batts
Arcana Academy $14.99 67 71% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) 2A Studio
Pro Strategy Football 2024 older $19.99 46 78% 1.4k $28k (exactly $27,586) Kerry Batts
Paper Kingdom $12.99 65 61% 2.0k $25k (exactly $25,330) obece
Railroad Ink Challenge older $7.99 88 82% 2.6k $21k (exactly $21,094) Horrible Guild
Pro Strategy Football 2026 $24.99 28 89% 840 $21k (exactly $20,992) Kerry Batts
Decks of the Damned $9.99 54 68% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) Thorian Games
It's time, Your Majesty $6.99 77 64% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) String studio
WAGON $10.99 38 94% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,529) de_husk
Grime&Gold $4.99 66 95% 2.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,880) Pemdora, Zakku, Spartaqui
Pro Strategy Football 2027 $24.99 5 60% 150 $3.7k (exactly $3,748) Kerry Batts

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