Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click RTS?

RTS + Point & Click

Of 25 developers who shipped a Point & Click RTS 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: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build. 15 developers shipped in the last year and 17 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 495% on the market, 17 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $264k → $299 → $150 → $3.2k → $989 (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RTS + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.5k (exactly $2,512)
Top 5% $53k (exactly $53,236)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 56
Announced 17
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 495% on the market, supply 50% 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Point & Click; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Strategy, Incremental
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 628 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.5k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

EmergeNYC 2016 · EA · $2.8M Breakout 13 2023 · $2.1M miniBONG 2023 · $264k Interstellaria 2015 · $106k Barely Working 2026 · EA · $70k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
EmergeNYC · EA older $24.99 3,760 64% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) FlipSwitch Games
Breakout 13 older $9.99 6,899 87% 207k $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) ALT Lab
miniBONG older $9.99 881 79% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) Game Star
Interstellaria older $9.99 353 53% 11k $106k (exactly $105,794) Coldrice Games LLC
Barely Working · EA $14.99 156 91% 4.7k $70k (exactly $70,153) Deep Games LLC
NAMAKORIUM (ナマコリウム) $11.99 148 93% 4.4k $53k (exactly $53,236) Polyscape Inc.
校长模拟器 older $19.99 74 12% 2.2k $44k (exactly $44,378) 校长模拟器
中国战疫 older $16.99 64 76% 1.9k $33k (exactly $32,621) 不吃蛋黄
Destroy! Mosaic! $4.99 135 77% 4.1k $20k (exactly $20,210) 悠悠幽靈工作室
It Is Ticking older $6.99 59 94% 1.8k $12k (exactly $12,372) YenThe Studio
Wet beach adventure $3.99 38 86% 1.1k $4.5k (exactly $4,549) Inspite, Bow GFA
Idle Streaming Bonanza $4.99 30 93% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) Anarky Games
Buttons Up! $1.99 53 84% 1.6k $3.2k (exactly $3,164) Jestercraft
Ocean Cleaner Idle $2.99 28 57% 840 $2.5k (exactly $2,512) Watt a Day Games
Gym Empire - Idle Gym Tycoon Management $4.99 14 71% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Chronik Spartan
WET $4.99 13 84% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) SUPER HYPER MEGA
Buttons Up! 2 $3.99 13 76% 390 $1.6k (exactly $1,556) Jestercraft

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