Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Psychological

Of 29 developers who shipped a Psychological Resource Management 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.. 93 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $7.4M, ×15591 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 93 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 93 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $18k → $12k → $807 → $5.6k → $38k → $210 (still earning) → $420 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $420 (exactly $420)
Top 25% $3.9k (exactly $3,896)
Top 5% $7.4M (exactly $7,405,587)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 53
Announced 93
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 down 90% on the market, supply 285% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Resource Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 40,586 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $420, 1 in 4 over $3.8k, 1 in 20 over $7.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 93 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

This War of Mine 2014 · $49M The Alters 2025 · $16M CloverPit 2025 · $7.4M The Pale Beyond 2023 · $1.1M Honey, I Joined a Cult 2022 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
This War of Mine older $19.99 81,804 93% 2.5M $49M (exactly $49,057,859) 11 bit studios
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
CloverPit $9.99 24,710 90% 741k $7.4M (exactly $7,405,587) Panik Arcade
The Pale Beyond older $19.99 1,858 90% 56k $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) Saltstone Studios
Honey, I Joined a Cult older $25.99 1,380 73% 41k $1.1M (exactly $1,075,986) Sole Survivor Games
My Child Lebensborn Remastered older $7.99 1,299 96% 39k $311k (exactly $311,370) Teknopilot AS, Sarepta Studio AS
The Void older $9.99 942 81% 28k $282k (exactly $282,317) Ice-Pick Lodge
Chromosome Evil older $14.99 334 81% 10k $150k (exactly $150,200) S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L.
ANGST: A TALE OF SURVIVAL $7.99 227 86% 6.8k $54k (exactly $54,412) Cherrypick Games
Idea Fix $9.99 128 92% 3.8k $38k (exactly $38,362) ZuitLabs
Dystopian Pet Simulator · EA $5.99 49 93% 1.5k $8.8k (exactly $8,805) dinca.team
Seclusion · EA $9.99 19 68% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) Forgeworks Studio
Little Lighthouse of Horror $2.99 62 85% 1.9k $5.6k (exactly $5,561) Codiwans
Habit Puzzles $9.99 13 100% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) NQNStudios
Beggar's Life $2.99 33 60% 990 $3.0k (exactly $2,960) Perennial Hearts LLC
Gamble: Hard Exit $5.99 15 100% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) RedZet

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