Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Solitaire

Of 24 developers who shipped a Solitaire 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.. 25 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $92k, ×194 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $418 → $748 → $298 → $539 → $1.5k → $1.3k → $240 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $9.9k (exactly $9,880)
Top 5% $92k (exactly $92,284)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 51
Announced 25
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 70% on the market, supply 25% 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
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

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, Solitaire; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 34% positive over 22,915 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $540, 1 in 4 over $9.8k, 1 in 20 over $92k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different second tag, 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

BidKing 2026 · $2.0M Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M Factory Planner 2026 · EA · $92k Arcana Academy 2025 · $30k Cat Lady - The Card Game 2019 · $28k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
Factory Planner · EA $7.99 385 70% 12k $92k (exactly $92,284) Lebleby Games
Arcana Academy $14.99 67 71% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) 2A Studio
Cat Lady - The Card Game older $3.99 230 97% 6.9k $28k (exactly $27,531) Nomad Games
It's time, Your Majesty $6.99 77 64% 2.3k $16k (exactly $16,147) String studio
WAGON $10.99 38 94% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,529) de_husk
Seven Seas Solitaire older $9.99 36 80% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) Anawiki Games
Grime&Gold $4.99 66 95% 2.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,880) Pemdora, Zakku, Spartaqui
Logic Light older $1.99 107 96% 3.2k $6.4k (exactly $6,388) Hardcoffee Game Studio
Carnegie $9.99 8 37% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) ycyclop games
Card Streamer Simulator $2.99 17 52% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Scissors Game
Hell Builder $4.99 9 88% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) Cuddle Code
Slash Cash $3.99 10 30% 300 $1.2k (exactly $1,197) AnythingGames

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