Games › Action › Action + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Action game?
Action + Chess
Only 12 developers shipped a Chess Action 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, Humiliation Dungeon Survivors, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $150, ×0.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper, while revenue is down 95% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $150 (exactly $150) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) |
| Top 5% | $97k (exactly $97,402) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 40 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 down 95% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Chess
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 7 games average 89% positive over 700 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate 2022 · $1.8M 
Chess Ultra 2017 · $714k 
Sex Chess 2022 · $319k 
Checkmate Showdown 2023 · $115k 
Humiliation Dungeon Survivors 2025 · $97k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate | older | $9.99 | 5,918 92% | 178k | $1.8M (exactly $1,773,625) | PUNKCAKE Delicieux |
| | Chess Ultra | older | $12.99 | 1,832 76% | 55k | $714k (exactly $713,930) | Ripstone |
| | Sex Chess | older | $9.99 | 1,064 78% | 32k | $319k (exactly $318,881) | Evil Boobs Cult |
| | Checkmate Showdown | older | $19.99 | 192 80% | 5.8k | $115k (exactly $115,142) | BadRez Games |
| | Humiliation Dungeon Survivors | $9.99 | 325 87% | 9.8k | $97k (exactly $97,402) | Naku Kinoko | |
 | Check vs Mate | older | $24.99 | 112 66% | 3.4k | $84k (exactly $83,966) | Targem Games |
 | Chessplosion | older | $11.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $50k (exactly $50,358) | C.T. Matthews |
 | Khet 2.0 | older | $9.99 | 117 89% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | BlueLine Games |
 | Hyper Chess | $2.99 | 321 92% | 9.6k | $29k (exactly $28,794) | Grouch, SuitNtie | |
 | Urja | older | $9.99 | 95 53% | 2.9k | $28k (exactly $28,472) | Breaking Fourth |
 | Who Takes The Crown? | $7.99 | 37 83% | 1.1k | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) | devthedoug | |
 | Chessman Adventures | · EA | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | DVK Games |
 | Chess Knightmare | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | RanDev Software | |
 | Chess Commanders | · EA | $4.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Skorpion Studios LLC |
 | ChessBlaze | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | TokaranGames | |
 | King's Beat | $2.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Mikko Savikko | |
 | Knightfall Showdown | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Atzi_ Games, Herpai József Mátyás | |
 | Mechanical Chess: Real-time | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Gambit Forge |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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