Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Strategy game?

Strategy + Score Attack

Of 355 developers who shipped a Score Attack 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.. 391 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 236 developers shipped in the last year and 391 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 391 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 355
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $628 → $598 → $537 → $208 → $449 → $505 → $269 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 355
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,338)
Top 5% $44k (exactly $44,180)
Developers, 2 yr 355
Released games 719
Announced 391
Effort 5 / 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 up 20% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy, Score Attack; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Roguelike, Deckbuilding
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 9,309 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $44k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 141 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 391 games are announced against 236 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds50 devs · median $65k · 27 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair62 devs · median $16k · 74 announced
  3. + BaseballFair14 devs · median $7.5k · 7 announced
  4. + LGBTQ+Fair89 devs · median $6.7k · 91 announced
  5. + WuxiaFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 41 announced
  6. + FarmingFair44 devs · median $4.3k · 42 announced
  7. + Martial ArtsFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 94 announced
  8. + SubmarineFair21 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  9. + NavalFair66 devs · median $2.2k · 88 announced
  10. + IdlerFair696 devs · median $1.9k · 988 announced
  11. + Shop KeeperFair159 devs · median $1.8k · 264 announced
  12. + HackingFair96 devs · median $1.2k · 132 announced

All 275 pairs on the Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Counter-Strike 2000 · $51M Hitman: Absolution™ 2012 · $30M 20 Minutes Till Dawn 2023 · $4.2M ISLANDERS 2019 · $2.4M Orcs Must Die! 2011 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Counter-Strike older $9.99 169,780 96% 5.1M $51M (exactly $50,883,066) Valve
Hitman: Absolution™ older $19.99 49,637 93% 1.5M $30M (exactly $29,767,309) Io-Interactive A/S
20 Minutes Till Dawn older $4.99 27,872 90% 836k $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) flanne
ISLANDERS older $4.99 16,104 94% 483k $2.4M (exactly $2,410,769) Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Stu… (Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios)
Orcs Must Die! older $9.99 6,663 95% 200k $2.0M (exactly $1,996,901) Robot Entertainment
PAC-MAN™ Championship Edition DX+ older $9.99 4,982 96% 149k $1.5M (exactly $1,493,105) Mine Loader Software Co., Ltd.
Element TD 2 - Tower Defense older $14.99 2,848 90% 85k $1.3M (exactly $1,280,746) Element Studios
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
Omelet You Cook $14.99 1,523 97% 46k $685k (exactly $684,893) Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose
Axon TD: Uprising - Tower Defense $19.99 706 85% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Element Studios
ISLANDERS: New Shores $9.99 1,230 96% 37k $369k (exactly $368,631) The Station
Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't $14.99 698 95% 21k $314k (exactly $313,891) Buried Things
Bingle Bingle $14.99 666 80% 20k $300k (exactly $299,500) Knitting Games
Kinny and the Cosmic Cauldron $12.99 563 85% 17k $219k (exactly $219,401) Kinnymoms
Copa City: Matchday Manager $24.99 247 72% 7.4k $185k (exactly $185,176) Triple Espresso S.A.
Feed the Scorchpot $14.99 371 87% 11k $167k (exactly $166,839) Moravian
Poly TD $7.99 587 82% 18k $141k (exactly $140,704) Naroot

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