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Should I ship a Building Board Game?
Building + Board Game
Of 54 developers who shipped a Building Board 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.. 81 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $82k, ×132 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 81 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $8.8k (exactly $8,814) |
| Top 5% | $83k (exactly $82,745) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 162 |
| Announced | 81 |
| 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 up 150% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Building, Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, City Builder, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,380 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 81 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CatsFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Vehicular CombatPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Real-TimePoor odds
- + CrimePoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
Comparable games
Wingspan 2020 · $5.9M 
TaleSpire 2021 · EA · $3.3M 
Terraforming Mars 2018 · $3.1M 
dotAGE 2023 · $1.4M 
As Far As The Eye 2020 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Wingspan | older | $19.99 | 9,807 94% | 294k | $5.9M (exactly $5,881,258) | Monster Couch |
| | TaleSpire | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,391 89% | 132k | $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) | Bouncyrock Entertainment |
| | Terraforming Mars | older | $19.99 | 5,194 71% | 156k | $3.1M (exactly $3,114,842) | Artefacts Studio |
| | dotAGE | older | $17.59 | 2,560 94% | 77k | $1.4M (exactly $1,350,912) | Michele Pirovano |
| | As Far As The Eye | older | $24.99 | 1,640 73% | 49k | $1.2M (exactly $1,229,508) | Unexpected |
 | Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,033 77% | 31k | $774k (exactly $774,440) | Broken Arms Games |
 | Let Them Trade | $17.99 | 1,070 84% | 32k | $577k (exactly $577,479) | Spaceflower | |
 | Ticket to Ride® | older | $14.99 | 1,057 69% | 32k | $475k (exactly $475,333) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
 | Dice Legacy | older | $14.99 | 892 67% | 27k | $401k (exactly $401,132) | DESTINYbit |
 | Preserve | $12.49 | 690 92% | 21k | $259k (exactly $258,543) | Bitmap Galaxy | |
 | River Towns | $14.99 | 184 89% | 5.5k | $83k (exactly $82,745) | Frogsong Studios | |
 | Amberspire | $24.99 | 58 86% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $43,483) | Lunar Division | |
 | 仙之气 | · EA | $10.99 | 114 74% | 3.4k | $38k (exactly $37,586) | 按键工坊 |
 | Headquarters: Cold War | $29.99 | 37 64% | 1.1k | $33k (exactly $33,289) | Starni Games | |
 | Islantiles | $14.99 | 61 90% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Thunderrock Innovations | |
 | Empire Builder | $19.99 | 42 95% | 1.3k | $25k (exactly $25,187) | Zombie Possum Games Inc | |
 | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD | $9.99 | 73 83% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Logix Interactive | |
 | Zen World | $9.99 | 51 80% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | Cartboard Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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