Games › Turn-Based Tactics › Turn-Based Tactics + Artificial Intelligence
Should I ship an AI Turn-Based Tactics?
Turn-Based Tactics + Artificial Intelligence
Of 59 developers who shipped an AI Turn-Based Tactics 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.. 91 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×378 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 91 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,912) |
| Top 5% | $237k (exactly $237,130) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 202 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Tactics
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Artificial Intelligence
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Tactics; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 4,792 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Tactics with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + TanksFair
- + AutomationFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DiceFair
- + MiningFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + PlatformerLong shot
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War | older | $39.99 | 8,148 82% | 244k | $9.8M (exactly $9,775,156) | Proxy Studios |
| | Panzer Corps 2 | older | $39.99 | 3,512 84% | 105k | $4.2M (exactly $4,213,346) | Flashback Games |
| | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
| | Teamfight Manager 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 2,251 60% | 68k | $1.3M (exactly $1,349,925) | Team Samoyed |
| | Screeps: World | older | $19.99 | 1,934 86% | 58k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,820) | Screeps, LLC |
| | Moonbreaker | older | $29.99 | 1,289 84% | 39k | $1.2M (exactly $1,159,713) | Unknown Worlds Entertainment |
| | Combat Mission Shock Force 2 | older | $59.99 | 624 80% | 19k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,013) | Battlefront |
| | Field of Glory: Empires | older | $39.99 | 734 81% | 22k | $881k (exactly $880,580) | Ageod |
| | Close Combat: The Bloody First | older | $39.99 | 397 51% | 12k | $476k (exactly $476,281) | Matrix Games |
| | The Conquest of Go | $14.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $261k (exactly $261,276) | Wolfey Studios | |
| | Backpack Jianghu | $13.99 | 565 80% | 17k | $237k (exactly $237,130) | 背包工作室 | |
| | Twilight Wars | $14.99 | 229 74% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $102,981) | Comrade Bear Games | |
| | Backpack Dungeon | $3.99 | 656 87% | 20k | $79k (exactly $78,523) | 夜喵 | |
| | Screeps: Arena | $19.99 | 105 82% | 3.2k | $63k (exactly $62,968) | Screeps, LLC | |
| | Deviation Game | · EA | $14.99 | 109 90% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | Tomo Kihara, Playfool |
| | The Book of Outcasts | $9.99 | 101 70% | 3.0k | $30k (exactly $30,270) | kamti | |
| | AI Spelcraft | $7.99 | 125 88% | 3.8k | $30k (exactly $29,962) | MONO ENTERTAINMENT | |
| | The False God's Fold | $11.99 | 70 78% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $25,179) | Night Owl Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.