Games › Strategy › Strategy + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Strategy game?
Strategy + Psychological
Of 160 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 253 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×583 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 253 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $896 (exactly $896) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,830) |
| Top 5% | $366k (exactly $366,297) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 160 |
| Released games | 331 |
| Announced | 253 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 30% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, 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
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Dark, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 101,947 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 77 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 253 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
This War of Mine 2014 · $49M 
The Alters 2025 · $16M 
Buckshot Roulette 2024 · $9.9M 
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | 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 | |
| | Buckshot Roulette | older | $2.99 | 110,042 95% | 3.3M | $9.9M (exactly $9,870,767) | Mike Klubnika |
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
 | CloverPit | $9.99 | 24,710 90% | 741k | $7.4M (exactly $7,405,587) | Panik Arcade | |
 | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
 | 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 |
 | Among Us 3D | $9.99 | 3,056 72% | 92k | $916k (exactly $915,883) | Schell Games, Innersloth | |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
 | 极速营救 | $9.99 | 1,860 86% | 56k | $557k (exactly $557,442) | 优映文化, 想象颗粒 | |
 | 我打不过漂亮的她们 | $10.99 | 1,111 95% | 33k | $366k (exactly $366,297) | 想象颗粒 | |
 | Soul Touch | $9.99 | 1,007 97% | 30k | $302k (exactly $301,798) | URAYAHA.TECH | |
 | Menherarium: Deadly Dice | $8.99 | 669 92% | 20k | $180k (exactly $180,429) | テスカトリポカ |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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