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Should I ship a Tower Defense Base Building game?
Base Building + Tower Defense
Of 346 developers who shipped a Tower Defense Base Building 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.. 642 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 $1.5k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $710k, ×1136 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 642 games are announced against 199 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,468) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,136) |
| Top 5% | $713k (exactly $713,223) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 346 |
| Released games | 802 |
| Announced | 642 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Tower Defense; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Building, Survival
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 89,660 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 162 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 642 games are announced against 199 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
The Riftbreaker 2021 · $20M 
Kingdom Two Crowns 2018 · $19M 
The Last Spell 2023 · $9.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | The Riftbreaker | older | $29.99 | 22,127 90% | 664k | $20M (exactly $19,907,662) | EXOR Studios |
| | Kingdom Two Crowns | older | $19.99 | 31,259 90% | 938k | $19M (exactly $18,746,022) | Fury Studios, Coatsink |
| | The Last Spell | older | $24.99 | 13,260 91% | 398k | $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) | Ishtar Games |
 | Diplomacy is Not an Option | $29.99 | 10,904 85% | 327k | $9.8M (exactly $9,810,329) | Door 407 | |
 | Legion TD 2 - Multiplayer Tower Defense | older | $24.99 | 12,607 86% | 378k | $9.5M (exactly $9,451,468) | AutoAttack Games |
 | Night of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 10,380 77% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,338,886) | Jackto Studios |
 | Thronefall | $12.99 | 22,966 96% | 689k | $8.9M (exactly $8,949,850) | GrizzlyGames, Mythwright | |
 | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
 | Age of Darkness: Final Stand | $27.99 | 9,486 74% | 285k | $8.0M (exactly $7,965,394) | PlaySide | |
 | Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition | $19.99 | 10,627 92% | 319k | $6.4M (exactly $6,373,012) | Firefly Studios | |
 | The Front | $19.99 | 9,555 66% | 287k | $5.7M (exactly $5,730,134) | Samar Studio | |
 | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
 | Becastled | $19.99 | 5,349 81% | 160k | $3.2M (exactly $3,207,795) | Mana Potion Studios | |
 | Tower Dominion | $17.49 | 5,117 85% | 154k | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) | Parallel 45 Games | |
 | Emberward | $19.99 | 3,775 96% | 113k | $2.3M (exactly $2,263,868) | Refic Games | |
 | Nordhold | $19.99 | 2,875 87% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,137) | StunForge |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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