Colony sims
An average niche: demand and competition are roughly balanced — the idea and execution decide. Average across 4 platforms: niche 50/100, demand 48/100, competition 44/100, development cost 48/100. On Steam: 815 games and 74,637 players online; 27% of games reach 500+ reviews, average spend per player is $19.25.
Niche
50/100
Demand (0–100)
48/100
Competition
44/100
Dev cost
48/100
Spend per player
$19.25
Hit rate (500+ reviews)
27%
Key findings
- Ranked #49 of 100 in the overall niche ranking.
- The niche looks best on itch.io (56/100) and weakest on Google Play (39/100).
- Competition is below typical: 44/100 vs a median of 57/100 — a new game has an easier time getting noticed.
- Development is costlier than typical: index 48/100 vs a median of 39/100 — plan for more time and money.
- On Steam, 27% of games reached 500+ reviews — more often than usual (median 16%).
- Small-studio games make up 49% of all Steam games with this tag.
By platform
| Platform | Popularity | Games / leaders’ share | Competition | Niche | Dev cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steam | 59/100 | 815 | 45/100 | 52/100 | 54/100 |
| itch.io | 39/100 | 97 | 20/100 | 56/100 | 49/100 |
| Yandex Games | no data | ||||
| Google Play | 46/100 | 79% | 67/100 | 39/100 | 45/100 |
| App Store | 48/100 | 53% | 44/100 | 52/100 | 45/100 |
Example games — Steam
AAA / big hits
Prison ArchitectIntroversion Software, Double Eleven · $29.99
SPOREMaxis™ · $19.99
Surviving MarsHaemimont Games, Abstraction · $29.99
Indie
RimWorldLudeon Studios · $34.99
Oxygen Not IncludedKlei Entertainment · $24.99
Frostpunk11 bit studios · $29.99
Related genres
Data updated October 12, 2026 Methodology