Games › Political Sim › Political Sim + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Political Sim?
Political Sim + Puzzle
Only 16 developers shipped a Puzzle Political Sim 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, Beholder: Conductor, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 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 $1.1k, ×2.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×4004 the market median. Revenue is up 260% on the market; 31 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,134) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $24,465) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 260% on the market, supply 45% 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.
- Political Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Political Sim, Puzzle; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Simulation, Investigation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,452 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Political Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DetectiveFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Board GameFair
- + TabletopFair
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + FuturisticPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
Beholder: Conductor 2025 · $1.9M 
We. The Revolution 2019 · $1.2M 
Urbek City Builder 2022 · $1.0M 
Orwell: Ignorance is Strength 2018 · $451k 
The Darkest Files 2025 · $401k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Beholder: Conductor | $13.99 | 4,532 91% | 136k | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) | Alawar | |
| | We. The Revolution | older | $19.99 | 1,997 73% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,197,601) | Polyslash |
| | Urbek City Builder | older | $18.99 | 1,830 89% | 55k | $1.0M (exactly $1,042,551) | Fridus |
| | Orwell: Ignorance is Strength | older | $9.99 | 1,506 77% | 45k | $451k (exactly $451,348) | Osmotic Studios |
| | The Darkest Files | $19.99 | 668 95% | 20k | $401k (exactly $400,600) | Paintbucket Games | |
 | JudgeSim | older | $6.99 | 1,376 84% | 41k | $289k (exactly $288,547) | DelusionArt Studio |
 | Not Tonight 2 | older | $19.99 | 465 76% | 14k | $279k (exactly $278,860) | PanicBarn |
 | 7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat | older | $19.99 | 301 61% | 9.0k | $181k (exactly $180,510) | Mousechief |
 | Security 51 | $9.99 | 454 71% | 14k | $136k (exactly $136,064) | Alawar | |
 | HEADLINER | older | $4.99 | 890 76% | 27k | $133k (exactly $133,233) | Unbound Creations |
 | Technotopia | $4.99 | 599 86% | 18k | $90k (exactly $89,670) | Yustas | |
 | What Awaits, Aleksey? | $15.99 | 51 86% | 1.5k | $24k (exactly $24,465) | JKBC | |
 | Ministry of Truth: False Memory | $6.99 | 69 85% | 2.1k | $14k (exactly $14,469) | IKKOSAMA, False Memory Dept. | |
 | Hologuard | $7.99 | 48 95% | 1.4k | $12k (exactly $11,506) | illuCalab | |
 | Snemovna | · EA | $7.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) | Richard Haraším |
 | Black Border 2 | $1.99 | 19 63% | 570 | $1.1k (exactly $1,134) | Bitzooma | |
 | Capitalist Misadventures | $7.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | Caramelo Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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