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Should I ship an Arcade Party Game?
Party Game + Arcade
Of 259 developers who shipped an Arcade Party 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.. 469 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $23k, ×49 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 469 games are announced against 214 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 5% | $23k (exactly $23,077) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 259 |
| Released games | 490 |
| Announced | 469 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 75% on the market, supply 375% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Party Game
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Party Game, Arcade; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvP, Local Multiplayer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, Family Friendly, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,243 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 469 games are announced against 214 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Party Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Board GameFair
- + RhythmFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + MinigamesPoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + SurvivalPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
Comparable games
Move or Die 2016 · $7.4M 
ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M 
Tricky Towers 2016 · $5.6M 
Backyard Baseball 2026 · $1.5M 
LEGO® Party! 2025 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Move or Die | older | $14.99 | 16,479 89% | 494k | $7.4M (exactly $7,410,606) | Xelu, Those Awesome Guys |
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | Tricky Towers | older | $14.99 | 12,390 90% | 372k | $5.6M (exactly $5,571,783) | WeirdBeard |
| | Backyard Baseball | $39.99 | 1,210 80% | 36k | $1.5M (exactly $1,451,637) | Mega Cat Studios | |
| | LEGO® Party! | $39.99 | 1,112 87% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,066) | SMG Studio | |
 | TowerFall Ascension | older | $14.99 | 2,942 95% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,017) | Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.) |
 | Boomerang Fu | older | $14.99 | 1,805 97% | 54k | $812k (exactly $811,708) | Cranky Watermelon |
 | Football Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 896 79% | 27k | $537k (exactly $537,331) | Refactor Games |
 | The Jackbox Party Pack 10 | older | $29.99 | 500 65% | 15k | $450k (exactly $449,850) | Jackbox Games, Inc. |
 | Who Wants To Be A Millionaire | older | $29.99 | 405 52% | 12k | $364k (exactly $364,378) | Appeal Studios, Balio Studio |
 | A Gentlemen's Dispute | $7.99 | 1,199 94% | 36k | $287k (exactly $287,400) | Blast Furnace Games | |
 | Motion Soccer PRO | $19.99 | 223 79% | 6.7k | $134k (exactly $133,733) | Ivanovich Games | |
 | WASD : The Adventure of Tori | $3.99 | 730 83% | 22k | $87k (exactly $87,381) | EVNA Games | |
 | Beetleball | $7.99 | 354 93% | 11k | $85k (exactly $84,854) | Bugfight Studio | |
 | Royalty Free-For-All | $11.99 | 104 86% | 3.1k | $37k (exactly $37,409) | AAAA Games, LLC | |
 | Judofuri | $14.99 | 80 100% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | pataya | |
 | Bean There, Won That | $7.99 | 117 76% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $28,045) | RemRem Studios | |
 | Shady job | $7.99 | 114 70% | 3.4k | $27k (exactly $27,326) | GAZE IN GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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