Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Tabletop

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tabletop Action game?

Action + Tabletop

Of 71 developers who shipped a Tabletop Action game 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.. 86 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $510, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 86 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 86 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Tabletop
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 71
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.1k → $598 → $2.9k → $718 → $327 → $748 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Tabletop: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 71
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $505 (exactly $505)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,308)
Top 5% $26k (exactly $26,127)
Developers, 2 yr 71
Released games 242
Announced 86
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 20% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Tabletop
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Tabletop; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Strategy, Simulation
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,475 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $510, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds108 devs · median $71k · 261 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Pummel Party 2018 · $21M UNO 2017 · $13M Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) 2017 · $6.4M Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M Blood Bowl 3 2023 · $3.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pummel Party older $14.99 46,134 88% 1.4M $21M (exactly $20,746,460) Rebuilt Games
UNO older $9.99 42,019 70% 1.3M $13M (exactly $12,593,094) Ubisoft Entertainment
Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) older $29.99 7,077 78% 212k $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) Cyanide Studios
Hand of Fate older $19.99 8,009 89% 240k $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) Defiant Development
Blood Bowl 3 older $29.99 3,940 51% 118k $3.5M (exactly $3,544,818) Cyanide Studio
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate older $9.99 5,918 92% 178k $1.8M (exactly $1,773,625) PUNKCAKE Delicieux
Drop Duchy $14.99 2,962 89% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) Sleepy Mill Studio
The Troop older $39.99 816 83% 24k $979k (exactly $978,955) Giant Flame
Chess Ultra older $12.99 1,832 76% 55k $714k (exactly $713,930) Ripstone
Munchkin Digital older $14.99 1,352 76% 41k $608k (exactly $607,994) Dire Wolf
Toads of the Bayou $9.99 137 72% 4.1k $41k (exactly $41,059) La Grange
Hyper Chess $2.99 321 92% 9.6k $29k (exactly $28,794) Grouch, SuitNtie
Burger Bots Inc. $7.99 109 91% 3.3k $26k (exactly $26,127) Normogames
Racket Pinball $19.99 37 91% 1.1k $22k (exactly $22,189) NiVision
Running Fable Petite Party $13.99 51 100% 1.5k $21k (exactly $21,405) Seashell Studio
ENCOUNTER BAR $0.99 590 78% 18k $18k (exactly $17,523) 2R
Break Shoot $4.99 106 99% 3.2k $16k (exactly $15,868) UPTRAND
Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss $19.99 22 63% 660 $13k (exactly $13,193) Polyarc
The Original Moorhuhn Hunt $2.99 140 97% 4.2k $13k (exactly $12,558) Higgs Games GmbH, GeekPit Studio

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