Do I ship it?

Games › Space Sim › Space Sim + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Space Sim?

Space Sim + Tower Defense

Only 13 developers shipped a Tower Defense Space Sim in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.3k → $2.9k → $9.2k → $59 → $599 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Space Sim + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $987 (exactly $987)
Top 5% $125k (exactly $125,431)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 34
Announced 16
Effort 6 / 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 up 80% on the market, supply 125% 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.

Space Sim
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Space Sim, Tower Defense
Price point
$3.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 758 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $480, 1 in 4 over $980, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite 2025 · $125k Space Station Tycoon 2023 · $28k ReEarth 2024 · $28k Phantom Signal — Sci-Fi Strategy Game 2018 · $24k Freaking Meatbags 2015 · $22k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
Space Station Tycoon older $4.99 190 56% 5.7k $28k (exactly $28,443) Lunheim Studios
ReEarth older $7.99 116 74% 3.5k $28k (exactly $27,805) Jiangzuogongfang Shanghai Game Co.,Ltd
Phantom Signal — Sci-Fi Strategy Game older $5.99 134 85% 4.0k $24k (exactly $24,080) Veslo Games
Freaking Meatbags older $9.99 75 84% 2.3k $22k (exactly $22,478) Wild Factor
Mars or Die! older $19.99 30 40% 900 $18k (exactly $17,991) 34BigThings srl
CHAOTIC ERA older $8.99 34 44% 1.0k $9.2k (exactly $9,170) BOBBY TECHNOLOGY
Rover Wars older $6.99 24 79% 720 $5.0k (exactly $5,033) Sakari Games
No Ticket Back: Craft, Survive & Escape $9.99 16 87% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) GameEraStudios
Orbitect older $9.99 11 63% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Propulsion Games
Idle Geometry Defense $4.99 10 80% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Urban Isotope
Civilization Survivor $2.99 11 90% 330 $987 (exactly $987) 缘码游戏工作室
Infinite Evo TD $4.99 4 25% 120 $599 (exactly $599) Starchase Games
Fortified Space · EA $3.99 4 100% 120 $479 (exactly $479) Nightsail Game Studios
The Long Drift $3.99 4 100% 120 $479 (exactly $479) GOGOIO Games
Geometry raid $1.99 8 87% 240 $478 (exactly $478) RoughStone
Rank: Warmaster Bunker Buster $14.99 1 100% 30 $450 (exactly $450) Laser Beams & Particle Streams Soft… (Laser Beams & Particle Streams Software, Inc.)
Bugs. Billions of Bugs. $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Recoil Mojo

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