Games › Tactical › Tactical + Programming
Should I ship a Programming Tactical game?
Tactical + Programming
Only 14 developers shipped a Programming Tactical game 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, Xenopurge, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×250 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 20 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
| Top 5% | $157k (exactly $156,999) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 20 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tactical
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Programming
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 616 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Duskers 2016 · $1.4M 
GLADIABOTS - AI Combat Arena 2019 · $380k 
Automachef 2019 · $235k 
Xenopurge 2025 · $157k 
SOLAS 128 2021 · $82k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
| | GLADIABOTS - AI Combat Arena | older | $14.99 | 846 87% | 25k | $380k (exactly $380,446) | GFX47 |
| | Automachef | older | $14.99 | 522 75% | 16k | $235k (exactly $234,743) | Rhombico Games |
| | Xenopurge | $12.49 | 419 84% | 13k | $157k (exactly $156,999) | Traptics | |
| | SOLAS 128 | older | $14.99 | 183 95% | 5.5k | $82k (exactly $82,295) | Amicable Animal |
 | Trade Bots: A Technical Analysis Simulation | older | $11.99 | 100 63% | 3.0k | $36k (exactly $35,970) | Cinq-Mars Media |
 | Observe | · EA | $7.99 | 74 91% | 2.2k | $18k (exactly $17,738) | Kisotik Games |
 | ALAN-13 Reformation | older | $15.99 | 34 82% | 1.0k | $16k (exactly $16,310) | Viktor Kovács |
 | Echoes of the Architects | $9.99 | 46 80% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | GFX47 | |
 | Copy Editor: A RegEx Puzzle | older | $6.99 | 58 55% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $12,163) | Christopher Jarvis |
 | Co OPERATION: MultiTurn | $19.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | Mind Feast Games | |
 | CPU Invaders - Aim Hero | $0.99 | 53 100% | 1.6k | $1.6k (exactly $1,574) | Microblast Games | |
 | ESC (Electronics Security Company) | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Electronics Security Company | |
 | Malware Tycoon | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | JIMMY DIAMOND | |
 | Frogrammer | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Snobfox | |
 | Widget Warriors | $4.99 | 5 0% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | Vespertine Game | |
 | GRID/ | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | NoeNoe Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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