Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Mars

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mars Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Mars

Only 12 developers shipped a Mars Resource Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Surviving Mars: Relaunched, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×5.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $350k, ×562 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $18k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×4207 the market median. Revenue is up 2405% on the market; 34 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 562.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 2405% on the market, 34 announced, ×5.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Mars
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $229k → $9.7k → $17k → $1.7M → $515k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Mars: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $17k (exactly $17,094)
Median $353k (exactly $353,109)
Top 25% $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 37
Announced 34
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $24.99

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 2405% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Mars
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Resource Management
Price point
$24.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 11,549 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $18k, median $350k, 1 in 4 over $1.6M, 1 in 20 over $2.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $18k. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Per Aspera 2020 · $3.7M Surviving Mars: Relaunched 2025 · $2.6M Occupy Mars: The Game 2026 · $2.4M Terraformers 2023 · $1.8M Plan B: Terraform 2025 · $1.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Per Aspera older $29.99 4,105 76% 123k $3.7M (exactly $3,693,268) Tlön Industries
Surviving Mars: Relaunched $39.99 2,202 55% 66k $2.6M (exactly $2,641,739) Haemimont Games
Occupy Mars: The Game $29.99 2,714 68% 81k $2.4M (exactly $2,441,786) ▲ Pyramid Games
Terraformers older $19.99 3,031 88% 91k $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) Asteroid Lab
Plan B: Terraform $15.99 3,526 91% 106k $1.7M (exactly $1,691,422) Gaddy Games
Mars Horizon older $19.99 2,757 84% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) Auroch Digital
Solargene $34.99 777 77% 23k $816k (exactly $815,617) Alexander Semenov
MarZ: Tactical Base Defense older $21.99 808 77% 24k $533k (exactly $533,038) Giant Grey
Blossom: The Seed of Life $16.99 1,011 88% 30k $515k (exactly $515,307) Pebbledust Games
Calyx · EA $24.99 471 88% 14k $353k (exactly $353,109) Studio 568
Stellar Settlers: Space Base Builder $11.99 744 69% 22k $268k (exactly $267,617) Tinymice Entertainment
Surviving Mars: Pioneer $24.99 78 83% 2.3k $58k (exactly $58,477) Bolverk Games
Dissent on Mars $29.99 19 47% 570 $17k (exactly $17,094) Michael Hicks, Gonçalo Antunes
HAS Galactics $11.99 7 28% 210 $2.5k (exactly $2,518) HAS Games

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