Games › Strategy › Strategy + Match 3
Should I ship a Match 3 Strategy game?
Strategy + Match 3
Of 121 developers who shipped a Match 3 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.. 136 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $250 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 72 developers shipped in the last year and 136 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $178 (exactly $178) |
| Top 25% | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 5% | $22k (exactly $21,878) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 121 |
| Released games | 590 |
| Announced | 136 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $2.99 |
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 115% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Match 3; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Roguelite, RPG
- Price point
- $2.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 2,391 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 136 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
HuniePop 2015 · $7.2M 
HuniePop 2: Double Date 2021 · $4.9M 
The Legend of Bum-Bo 2019 · $2.5M 
Zuma Deluxe 2006 · $970k 
Bejeweled® 3 2010 · $913k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HuniePop | older | $9.99 | 23,989 96% | 720k | $7.2M (exactly $7,189,503) | HuniePot |
| | HuniePop 2: Double Date | older | $19.99 | 8,149 91% | 244k | $4.9M (exactly $4,886,955) | HuniePot |
| | The Legend of Bum-Bo | older | $14.99 | 5,654 80% | 170k | $2.5M (exactly $2,542,604) | Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Rid… (Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon) |
| | Zuma Deluxe | older | $4.99 | 6,481 95% | 194k | $970k (exactly $970,206) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
| | Bejeweled® 3 | older | $4.99 | 6,096 96% | 183k | $913k (exactly $912,571) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
 | Titanium Court | $14.99 | 1,094 94% | 33k | $492k (exactly $491,972) | AP Thomson | |
 | Ironcast | older | $14.99 | 774 72% | 23k | $348k (exactly $348,068) | Dreadbit |
 | PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords | older | $9.99 | 1,025 86% | 31k | $307k (exactly $307,192) | Infinite Interactive |
 | 10,000,000 | older | $4.99 | 1,807 90% | 54k | $271k (exactly $270,508) | EightyEightGames |
 | Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition | older | $17.99 | 434 80% | 13k | $234k (exactly $234,230) | Dotemu, Capybara Games |
 | Lucky Hunter | $5.99 | 413 89% | 12k | $74k (exactly $74,216) | 159 Studio | |
 | ANTHEM#9 | $14.99 | 125 87% | 3.8k | $56k (exactly $56,212) | koeda | |
 | Neon Village | $9.99 | 146 86% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Encraft | |
 | PancitoMerge | $7.99 | 158 99% | 4.7k | $38k (exactly $37,873) | Fáyer, Sketchy Ceviche | |
 | Legends of Gems | $8.99 | 139 81% | 4.2k | $37k (exactly $37,488) | 南京西木优洛网络科技有限公司 | |
 | Kaamos: Puzzle Roguelike | $9.99 | 73 87% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Pepperbox Studios | |
 | Path of Dao | $3.99 | 149 93% | 4.5k | $18k (exactly $17,835) | 梦鲸工作室 | |
 | Gem and Tarot | $4.99 | 68 100% | 2.0k | $10k (exactly $10,180) | SHEN DING | |
 | 转生魔塔 | $11.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Zeros |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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