Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Perma Death Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Perma Death

Of 83 developers who shipped a Perma Death Resource 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.. 182 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $43k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 182 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 182 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 83
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $1.5k → $358 → $359 → $1.0k → $420 → $1.9k (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 83
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,144)
Top 5% $44k (exactly $43,756)
Developers, 2 yr 83
Released games 186
Announced 182
Effort 4 / 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 50% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Perma Death
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Resource Management, Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Simulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,196 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $43k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different second tag, 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

Five Nights at Freddy's 2 2014 · $5.7M Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ 2014 · $3.4M Crying Suns 2019 · $2.4M Card Survival: Tropical Island 2022 · $2.2M Void War 2025 · $2.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Five Nights at Freddy's 2 older $7.99 23,871 93% 716k $5.7M (exactly $5,721,879) Scott Cawthon
Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ older $11.99 9,419 87% 283k $3.4M (exactly $3,388,014) AMPLITUDE Studios
Crying Suns older $24.99 3,149 85% 94k $2.4M (exactly $2,360,805) Alt Shift
Card Survival: Tropical Island older $24.99 2,962 94% 89k $2.2M (exactly $2,220,611) WinterSpring Games
Void War $19.99 3,653 94% 110k $2.2M (exactly $2,190,704) Tundra
Dead In Vinland older $27.80 1,175 78% 35k $980k (exactly $979,950) Ishtar Games
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Trigon: Space Story older $19.99 1,247 67% 37k $748k (exactly $747,826) Sernur.tech
Noobs Want to Live older $4.99 4,593 89% 138k $688k (exactly $687,572) 元气弹工作室(GD Studio)
Insurmountable older $24.99 832 78% 25k $624k (exactly $623,750) ByteRockers' Games
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
Gods of Sand $9.99 720 86% 22k $216k (exactly $215,784) Achenar Studios
Neon Village $9.99 146 86% 4.4k $44k (exactly $43,756) Encraft
Don't Freeze: A Winter Card Survival · EA $17.99 31 74% 930 $17k (exactly $16,731) YOLO35GAMES
Encounter: The Lost Cards $12.99 38 68% 1.1k $15k (exactly $14,809) Salvatore Grosso
BARDA: Backpack Roguelike $8.99 48 89% 1.4k $13k (exactly $12,946) Mudita Games
Type or Die $13.99 29 31% 870 $12k (exactly $12,171) Type or Die
The Candle $4.99 71 91% 2.1k $11k (exactly $10,629) Candle Dev

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