Games › Strategy › Strategy + Programming
Should I ship a Programming Strategy game?
Strategy + Programming
Of 96 developers who shipped a Programming Strategy 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.. 148 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×455 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 148 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,738) |
| Top 5% | $286k (exactly $286,009) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 96 |
| Released games | 231 |
| Announced | 148 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 250% on the market, supply 140% 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.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Programming; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Automation, Puzzle
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 15,777 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 148 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Baba Is You 2019 · $9.4M 
Mad Games Tycoon 2 2023 · $5.5M 
Software Inc. 2015 · EA · $5.2M 
The Farmer Was Replaced 2025 · $2.7M 
Autonauts 2019 · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Baba Is You | older | $14.99 | 21,011 97% | 630k | $9.4M (exactly $9,448,647) | Hempuli Oy |
| | Mad Games Tycoon 2 | older | $24.99 | 7,355 93% | 221k | $5.5M (exactly $5,514,044) | Eggcode |
| | Software Inc. | · EA older | $22.99 | 7,576 94% | 227k | $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) | Coredumping |
| | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
| | Autonauts | older | $19.99 | 3,596 90% | 108k | $2.2M (exactly $2,156,521) | Denki |
 | Desynced | $29.99 | 1,879 79% | 56k | $1.7M (exactly $1,690,536) | Stage Games Inc. | |
 | Mad Games Tycoon | older | $14.99 | 3,700 91% | 111k | $1.7M (exactly $1,663,890) | Eggcode |
 | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
 | Infinifactory | older | $24.99 | 1,790 95% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,341,963) | Zachtronics |
 | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
 | HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator | $16.99 | 937 88% | 28k | $478k (exactly $477,589) | HotBunny | |
 | Kaizen: A Factory Story | $19.99 | 694 91% | 21k | $416k (exactly $416,192) | Coincidence | |
 | Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft | $14.99 | 636 83% | 19k | $286k (exactly $286,009) | Luden.io | |
 | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
 | Data Center | $8.99 | 916 76% | 27k | $247k (exactly $247,045) | Waseku | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Tower Networking Inc. | · EA | $19.99 | 317 95% | 9.5k | $190k (exactly $190,105) | Pocosia Studios |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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