Do I ship it?

Games › Wargame › Wargame + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Wargame?

Wargame + Puzzle

Of 21 developers who shipped a Puzzle Wargame 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.. 25 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 $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $89; 1 in 20 cleared $94k, ×150 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 25 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Wargame + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.8k → $3.9k → $450 → $599 → $30 → $1.1k → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Wargame + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $897 (exactly $897)
Top 25% $4.2k (exactly $4,196)
Top 5% $94k (exactly $94,106)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 82
Announced 25
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 flat on the market, supply 20% 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.

Wargame
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Wargame, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tactical, Turn-Based Strategy
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,165 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $900, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $94k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. All of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Wargame with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  3. + NavalFair37 devs · median $2.4k · 37 announced
  4. + TabletopFair50 devs · median $1.1k · 57 announced
  5. + LogicFair20 devs · median $599 · 26 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $37k · 24 announced
  7. + Real-TimePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds43 devs · median $21k · 84 announced
  9. + StealthPoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  10. + DiplomacyPoor odds34 devs · median $17k · 59 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds24 devs · median $16k · 55 announced
  12. + SandboxPoor odds82 devs · median $14k · 142 announced

All 147 pairs on the Wargame page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Besiege 2020 · $22M VLADiK BRUTAL 2024 · $3.4M Root 2020 · $2.3M Unity of Command II 2019 · $1.8M Hasbro's BATTLESHIP 2018 · $310k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
VLADiK BRUTAL older $11.99 9,551 89% 287k $3.4M (exactly $3,435,495) BRUTAL SOFTWARE
Root older $14.99 5,049 90% 151k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) Dire Wolf
Unity of Command II older $29.99 2,042 79% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,837,187) 2x2 Games, Croteam
Hasbro's BATTLESHIP older $12.49 828 82% 25k $310k (exactly $310,252) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Darwinia older $11.99 781 78% 23k $281k (exactly $280,926) Introversion Software
The Conquest of Go $14.99 581 94% 17k $261k (exactly $261,276) Wolfey Studios
Unity of Command: Stalingrad Campaign older $9.99 808 78% 24k $242k (exactly $242,158) 2x2 Games
Wargroove 2 older $19.99 403 69% 12k $242k (exactly $241,679) Chucklefish, Robotality
Yokai Art: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons older $6.99 1,132 89% 34k $237k (exactly $237,380) Secret Labo
Yokai Art 2: Tales of the Nine-Tails $9.99 314 75% 9.4k $94k (exactly $94,106) Secret Labo
Rainbow Legends $12.99 90 74% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,073) Unpixel Cloud Cedar Studio
Missile Command Delta $19.99 31 83% 930 $19k (exactly $18,591) 13AM Games, Mighty Yell
Dungeon Dev $3.99 63 85% 1.9k $7.5k (exactly $7,541) Team ETTU
Gold Defence $9.99 20 65% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Gamesforgames
Summoner's Automata $9.99 14 85% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) Gamesforgames
Emoji Wars $9.99 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Total
Hidden Heir $4.99 21 66% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) AYS CODE YAZILIM
The Lost Painter $2.99 19 100% 570 $1.7k (exactly $1,704) Ravenhome Studios

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