Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Tactical game?

Tactical + Underground

Only 12 developers shipped an Underground Tactical game 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, Shroom and Gloom, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $670, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $430k, ×700 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 34 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 34 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $0 → $5.9k → $0 (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $674 (exactly $674)
Top 25% $5.9k (exactly $5,933)
Top 5% $439k (exactly $439,357)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 40
Announced 34
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 400% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
Tactical
Price point
$6.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 87% positive over 1,244 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $670, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $430k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 34 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Shroom and Gloom · EA $14.99 977 91% 29k $439k (exactly $439,357) Team Lazerbeam
Project Wunderwaffe older $14.99 438 56% 13k $197k (exactly $196,969) Weasel Games
Beneath the Mountain older $24.99 196 63% 5.9k $147k (exactly $146,941) Omnis Rector Studios
Dying Breed · EA $17.99 218 71% 6.5k $118k (exactly $117,655) Sarnayer
Sword of the Stars: The Pit 2 · EA older $14.99 53 73% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Kerberos Productions
Dead Hand older $19.99 31 80% 930 $19k (exactly $18,591) One Man Army Games
The Commission 1920: Organized Crime Grand Strategy older $14.99 29 62% 870 $13k (exactly $13,041) 302 Interactive
MetaMorph: Dungeon Creatures · EA older $9.99 33 81% 990 $9.9k (exactly $9,890) FireFly Studios
Jelly Troops $8.99 22 90% 660 $5.9k (exactly $5,933) Nukenin
IGNISTONE older $4.49 43 93% 1.3k $5.8k (exactly $5,792) MONO ENTERTAINMENT
Turn Based Boxing: Tactics - Legends Edition $9.99 14 85% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) The Slanted Room
Cool Game Pack $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) COOL 2 Interactive
Dig Inc. · EA $7.49 3 66% 90 $674 (exactly $674) Tematus
Fate And Destiny - The Elonia Chronicles $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) Judox Studio
Dark Avos $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) V1S
Treasure Protector $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) NeedCrit Games
Molesweeper $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Arrabal Games

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