The niche at a glance

Colony Sim on Steam: 1,571 released games, 675 in the last 12 months, 1,123 announced and still unreleased. Median lifetime reviews: 22. 39% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 6%. Colony Sim is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included623 releases
p100
p253
median22
p75214
p901,300
39% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $9.99 · 6% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
37med 165 · 5% unseen
2020
59med 29 · 27% unseen
2021
103med 47 · 30% unseen
2022
126med 84 · 17% unseen
2023
160med 63 · 18% unseen
2024
155med 61 · 29% unseen
2025
222med 20 · 35% unseen
2026
396med 7 · 52% unseen · 182 too fresh

Colony Sim × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Colony Sim at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Colony Sim ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Alternate History22810545.5% 27%–65%27.0%
cliché ×2.32221 d
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Farthest Frontier
Empires of the Undergrowth
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic · Farthest Frontier · Empires of the Undergrowth
Historical602121733.3% 23%–46%26.7%
cliché ×3.04201 d
Manor Lords
Against the Storm
Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Manor Lords · Against the Storm · Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic
Post-apocalyptic451412731.1% 20%–46%23.6%
cliché ×2.77153 d
Timberborn
Frostpunk 2
Infection Free Zone
Timberborn · Frostpunk 2 · Infection Free Zone
War311012132.3% 19%–50%22.2%
cliché ×1.90251 d
Diplomacy is Not an Option
Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition
下一站江湖Ⅱ
Diplomacy is Not an Option · Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition · 下一站江湖Ⅱ
Trains114315under 2020.4%
cliché ×4.48410 d
Railroads Online
Plan B: Terraform
Mini Settlers: Prologue
Railroads Online · Plan B: Terraform · Mini Settlers: Prologue
Nature70352822.9% 15%–34%19.3%
cliché ×2.61141 d
Timberborn
Going Medieval
The Wandering Village
Timberborn · Going Medieval · The Wandering Village
Military2295927.3% 13%–48%17.5%
ordinary ×1.44251 d
Diplomacy is Not an Option
Becastled
Fantasy Map Simulator
Diplomacy is Not an Option · Becastled · Fantasy Map Simulator
Farming Sim59223220.3% 12%–32%16.9%
cliché ×7.22200 d
Timberborn
The Wandering Village
The Lost Village
Timberborn · The Wandering Village · The Lost Village
Fantasy99335118.2% 12%–27%16.2%
ordinary ×1.13151 d
The Lost Village
Fabledom
Becastled
The Lost Village · Fabledom · Becastled
Science20107725.0% 11%–47%15.8%
cliché ×3.53215 d
Timberborn
The Universim
The Last Starship
Timberborn · The Universim · The Last Starship
Zombies2025925.0% 11%–47%15.8%
ordinary ×1.21523 d
Infection Free Zone
Diplomacy is Not an Option
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days
Infection Free Zone · Diplomacy is Not an Option · Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days
Transportation8461under 2015.5%
cliché ×3.90410 d
Plan B: Terraform
Mini Settlers: Prologue
Mini Settlers
Plan B: Terraform · Mini Settlers: Prologue · Mini Settlers
Medieval108352716.7% 11%–25%15.1%
cliché ×3.35251 d
Farthest Frontier
Foundation
Diplomacy is Not an Option
Farthest Frontier · Foundation · Diplomacy is Not an Option
Fishing9296under 2014.9%
cliché ×1.89620 d
Wild West Legacy
My Little Life
Ecosystem
Wild West Legacy · My Little Life · Ecosystem
Mars16619under 2014.8%
cliché ×13.92267 d
Plan B: Terraform
Surviving Mars: Relaunched
Solargene
Plan B: Terraform · Surviving Mars: Relaunched · Solargene
21 pairings cleared 20 releases; 81 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.7% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.