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Should I ship a Trading Turn-Based Strategy?
Turn-Based Strategy + Trading
Of 27 developers who shipped a Trading Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 75 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $72k, ×116 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 75 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,391) |
| Top 5% | $73k (exactly $72,887) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 75 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Trading
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Strategy, Trading; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Economy, Simulation, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 553 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + Cold WarFair
- + RomeFair
- + LootFair
- + MiningFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + TanksFair
- + SokobanFair
- + Top-Down ShooterFair
- + SpaceFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Vagrus - The Riven Realms | older | $29.99 | 1,746 84% | 52k | $1.6M (exactly $1,570,876) | Lost Pilgrims Studio |
| | Slipways | older | $16.99 | 2,233 93% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,138,160) | Beetlewing |
| | Horizon's Gate | older | $19.99 | 1,213 94% | 36k | $727k (exactly $727,436) | Rad Codex |
| | Imperiums: Greek Wars | older | $29.99 | 453 83% | 14k | $408k (exactly $407,564) | Kube Games |
| | Dust to the End | older | $11.99 | 1,076 78% | 32k | $387k (exactly $387,037) | Haojoy Game, Zjoy Game |
| | GOAL! The Club Manager | · EA older | $29.99 | 364 33% | 11k | $327k (exactly $327,491) | 2tainment |
| | The Emperor and State | · EA older | $14.99 | 314 55% | 9.4k | $141k (exactly $141,206) | 涂途 |
| | Merchant of the Six Kingdoms | older | $14.99 | 221 91% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $99,384) | Cory Long |
| | Caravaneer 2 | older | $5.99 | 535 94% | 16k | $96k (exactly $96,140) | Dmitry Zheltobriukhov |
| | High Seas, High Profits! | $14.99 | 165 86% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | lexy.zip | |
| | Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime | $16.99 | 143 98% | 4.3k | $73k (exactly $72,887) | Bonte Avond | |
| | SELF MADE: Investment Life Sim | $14.99 | 52 84% | 1.6k | $23k (exactly $23,384) | Billmeade Gaming | |
| | Grand Cru: The Wine Maker | $14.99 | 37 86% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | hAi Corp | |
| | Business War: ERP Sandbox Simulation | $15.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $16k (exactly $15,830) | 夜与潜伏者 | |
| | Warp to Sector One | · EA | $11.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $15k (exactly $14,748) | hextor.Games |
| | Governor | $15.99 | 30 76% | 900 | $14k (exactly $14,391) | Daniling | |
| | King's Subsidy | $11.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Marcin Henzel | |
| | Commander Bug Wars | $9.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | GoldenGod Games | |
| | Exodus: The Colonization of Space | $6.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | Artex |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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