Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy › Strategy + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Strategy game?

Strategy + Solitaire

Of 198 developers who shipped a Solitaire 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.. 177 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 125 developers shipped in the last year and 177 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 177 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 198
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.1k → $1.8k → $539 → $449 → $539 → $200 (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 198
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $269 (exactly $269)
Top 25% $2.0k (exactly $1,978)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $83,416)
Developers, 2 yr 198
Released games 509
Announced 177
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 40% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy, Solitaire; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 44% positive over 27,569 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $270, 1 in 4 over $1.9k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 90 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 177 games are announced against 125 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

Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M Your Only Move Is HUSTLE 2023 · $5.8M Root 2020 · $2.3M BidKing 2026 · $2.0M Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Stacklands older $7.99 29,244 96% 877k $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) Sokpop Collective
Your Only Move Is HUSTLE older $4.99 38,703 96% 1.2M $5.8M (exactly $5,793,839) Ivy Sly
Root older $14.99 5,049 90% 151k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) Dire Wolf
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
Retirement Simulator · EA older $13.99 3,757 34% 113k $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) DoubleThink Studio
Dice & Fold older $12.99 3,491 83% 105k $1.4M (exactly $1,360,443) Tinymice Entertainment
Cardboard Town older $19.99 2,051 79% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Stratera Games, cukuto
Rana Card $12.99 1,183 89% 35k $461k (exactly $461,015) VisionRana
Kaizen: A Factory Story $19.99 694 91% 21k $416k (exactly $416,192) Coincidence
One Turn Kill $7.99 1,478 95% 44k $354k (exactly $354,277) DenDen
Zoominoes $14.99 549 91% 16k $247k (exactly $246,885) Starlight Games inc.
Wordatro! $9.99 401 85% 12k $120k (exactly $120,180) Le Poulet
Sherman Commander $29.99 117 64% 3.5k $105k (exactly $105,265) Iron Wolf Studio S.A.
U.V.S. Nirmana $14.99 213 88% 6.4k $96k (exactly $95,786) Coincidence
Queens Casino $9.99 311 98% 9.3k $93k (exactly $93,207) sartahouse
Factory Planner · EA $7.99 385 70% 12k $92k (exactly $92,284) Lebleby Games

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