Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Political Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Political Sim Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Political Sim

Of 67 developers who shipped a Political Sim Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 91 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1205 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 91 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 91 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Political Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 67
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $271k → $9.4k → $6.1k → $12k → $450 → $989 (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Political Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 67
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,158)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,391)
Top 5% $757k (exactly $757,042)
Developers, 2 yr 67
Released games 164
Announced 91
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 125% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Political Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Strategy, Political Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Wargame
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 53% positive over 53,750 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $750k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sid Meier's Civilization VII 2025 · $94M Age of History II 2018 · $8.6M Democracy 4 2022 · $5.3M Democracy 3 2013 · $4.7M Ascension 2025 · EA · $1.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sid Meier's Civilization VII $69.99 44,789 48% 1.3M $94M (exactly $94,043,463) Firaxis Games
Age of History II older $5.99 47,614 89% 1.4M $8.6M (exactly $8,556,236) Łukasz Jakowski
Democracy 4 older $29.99 5,891 81% 177k $5.3M (exactly $5,300,133) Positech Games
Democracy 3 older $24.99 6,245 73% 187k $4.7M (exactly $4,681,876) Positech Games
Ascension · EA $19.99 2,437 60% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,461,469) Element Game 微元游戏
Ancient Warfare: The Han Dynasty · EA older $16.99 1,708 69% 51k $871k (exactly $870,568) 不秋草游戏工作室(Bamboo Games)
Age of History 2: Definitive Edition $9.99 2,600 83% 78k $779k (exactly $779,220) Łukasz Jakowski
Twilight Struggle older $9.99 2,568 86% 77k $770k (exactly $769,630) Playdek, Inc.
Politics The Game $9.99 2,526 95% 76k $757k (exactly $757,042) Simplicity Games
Shadows of Forbidden Gods older $19.99 1,046 91% 31k $627k (exactly $627,286) Bobby Two Hands
NationWar2:Chronicle $16.99 378 78% 11k $193k (exactly $192,667) Yiming
King's Orders $14.99 257 70% 7.7k $116k (exactly $115,573) AFTERLIFE👻
Mr. President $19.99 162 75% 4.9k $97k (exactly $97,151) Exia Labs
Three Kingdoms : Alias · EA $7.99 359 79% 11k $86k (exactly $86,052) Plotrick
Maestro's Cold War 2 $12.99 170 92% 5.1k $66k (exactly $66,249) Maestro Cinetik
Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution $24.99 72 68% 2.2k $54k (exactly $53,978) Studio Imugi

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