Do I ship it?

GamesStrategyStrategy + Sokoban

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sokoban Strategy game?

Strategy + Sokoban

Of 141 developers who shipped a Sokoban 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.. 125 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 125 games are announced against 77 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 125 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Sokoban
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 141
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.0k → $1.4k → $748 → $898 → $539 → $628 (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Sokoban: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 141
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,397)
Top 5% $30k (exactly $30,130)
Developers, 2 yr 141
Released games 406
Announced 125
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 down 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Sokoban
effort 2 / 10 · high · grid pushing rules and level files

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy, Sokoban; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Logic, Grid-Based Movement
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 98% positive over 1,848 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 $540, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $30k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 125 games are announced against 77 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Baba Is You older $14.99 21,011 97% 630k $9.4M (exactly $9,448,647) Hempuli Oy
Patrick's Parabox older $19.99 4,985 99% 150k $3.0M (exactly $2,989,504) Patrick Traynor
A Monster's Expedition older $19.99 1,594 94% 48k $956k (exactly $955,922) Draknek & Friends
Isles of Sea and Sky older $19.99 1,538 91% 46k $922k (exactly $922,339) Cicada Games
A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build older $14.99 679 96% 20k $305k (exactly $305,346) Alan Hazelden, Benjamin Davis
Sokobond older $14.99 547 93% 16k $246k (exactly $245,986) Alan Hazelden, Lee Shang Lun
Slayaway Camp older $8.99 715 95% 21k $193k (exactly $192,836) Blue Wizard Digital
Poke ALL Toads $11.99 447 100% 13k $161k (exactly $160,786) SpaceMatra
Gentoo Rescue $19.99 237 99% 7.1k $142k (exactly $142,129) Jagriff
Linelith older $2.99 1,438 98% 43k $129k (exactly $128,989) Patrick Traynor
Treasure 'n Trio $14.99 242 100% 7.3k $109k (exactly $108,827) TNT
Theta and Paralldox on Worldlines $9.99 276 97% 8.3k $83k (exactly $82,717) XXela
868-BACK $19.99 122 98% 3.7k $73k (exactly $73,163) Michael Brough
Loophole $9.99 154 99% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Levi Pinkert
Puzzle Depot $19.99 61 100% 1.8k $37k (exactly $36,582) Laughing Manatee Games
4D Intuition $14.99 67 100% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) Yu Gu (yugu233)
HAMSTERMIND $12.99 73 97% 2.2k $28k (exactly $28,448) Righteous Tree
The Electrifying Incident: A Monster Mini-Expedition $4.99 169 93% 5.1k $25k (exactly $25,299) Draknek and Friends

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