Games › Tactical › Tactical + Nature
Should I ship a Nature Tactical game?
Tactical + Nature
Of 65 developers who shipped a Nature Tactical 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.. 126 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 37 developers shipped in the last year and 126 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $1.9k (exactly $1,919) |
| Top 5% | $138k (exactly $137,515) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 65 |
| Released games | 184 |
| Announced | 126 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 65% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Exploration, PvE
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 2,922 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 126 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Empire of the Ants | $39.99 | 931 73% | 28k | $1.1M (exactly $1,116,921) | Tower Five | |
| | The Oregon Trail | older | $29.99 | 1,220 79% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,097,634) | Gameloft |
| | Insurmountable | older | $24.99 | 832 78% | 25k | $624k (exactly $623,750) | ByteRockers' Games |
| | FEROCIOUS | $24.99 | 742 63% | 22k | $556k (exactly $556,277) | OMYOG | |
| | Potentia | older | $19.99 | 350 68% | 11k | $210k (exactly $209,895) | Wily Pumpkin |
| | Day of the Shell | $14.99 | 382 68% | 11k | $172k (exactly $171,785) | Duper Games | |
| | Tornado: Research and Rescue | · EA older | $12.99 | 356 85% | 11k | $139k (exactly $138,733) | Sam Kennedy |
| | Hive Blight | · EA | $12.49 | 367 94% | 11k | $138k (exactly $137,515) | OptizOnion |
| | Cascadia | $14.99 | 210 98% | 6.3k | $94k (exactly $94,437) | Dire Wolf | |
| | Shields of Loyalty | $19.99 | 140 77% | 4.2k | $84k (exactly $83,958) | Mosaic Mask Studio | |
| | Atre: Dominance Wars | · EA | $24.99 | 34 67% | 1.0k | $25k (exactly $25,490) | Ironward |
| | Game With Balls | $5.99 | 64 95% | 1.9k | $12k (exactly $11,501) | Geert Verhoeff | |
| | K2: Digital Edition | $14.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $9.0k (exactly $8,994) | Devon Games | |
| | Build For Sale Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 32 46% | 960 | $8.6k (exactly $8,630) | Paragon Game Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.