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Should I ship a Character Customization Board Game?
Character Customization + Board Game
Of 39 developers who shipped a Character Customization 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.. 60 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×313 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 60 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,394) |
| Top 25% | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) |
| Top 5% | $196k (exactly $196,409) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 141 |
| Announced | 60 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 29%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Character Customization
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Character Customization, Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvP, Tactical
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 6,390 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Character Customization with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Real-TimeStrong odds
- + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + BikesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + TypingFair
Comparable games
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2018 · $10M 
Stolen Realm 2024 · $2.1M 
Scythe: Digital Edition 2018 · $1.9M 
THE GAME OF LIFE 2 2020 · $1.4M 
Just Go 2022 · $967k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus | older | $29.99 | 11,279 91% | 338k | $10M (exactly $10,147,716) | Bulwark Studios |
| | Stolen Realm | older | $19.99 | 3,470 84% | 104k | $2.1M (exactly $2,080,959) | Burst2Flame Games |
| | Scythe: Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,164 89% | 95k | $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) | The Knights of Unity |
| | THE GAME OF LIFE 2 | older | $12.49 | 3,702 78% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Just Go | older | $9.99 | 3,227 92% | 97k | $967k (exactly $967,132) | Studio Amateur |
 | Warhammer Underworlds - Shadespire Edition (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 1,059 70% | 32k | $953k (exactly $952,782) | Steel Sky Productions, Tin Man Games |
 | Guilty as Sock! | $5.50 | 4,836 89% | 145k | $798k (exactly $797,940) | Demon Max | |
 | Erannorth Chronicles | older | $20.99 | 407 85% | 12k | $256k (exactly $256,288) | Spyridon Thalassinos |
 | Dead Grid | $12.99 | 504 93% | 15k | $196k (exactly $196,409) | Atom Void | |
 | Children of Zodiarcs | older | $17.99 | 351 69% | 11k | $189k (exactly $189,435) | Cardboard Utopia |
 | Master of Chess | $19.99 | 290 83% | 8.7k | $174k (exactly $173,913) | BRANE | |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Pic-Me! | $6.99 | 359 83% | 11k | $75k (exactly $75,282) | GoofGames | |
 | Fritz Chess 20 Steam Edition | $54.99 | 15 46% | 450 | $25k (exactly $24,746) | ChessBase GmbH | |
 | Pro Strategy Football 2026 | $24.99 | 28 89% | 840 | $21k (exactly $20,992) | Kerry Batts | |
 | Who's Next? | $4.99 | 123 87% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | HellAssociation | |
 | Mini Bash | $9.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | Imperial Reality Labs | |
 | Hero Quest - God of Chaos | · EA | $19.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | Future Intellect LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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