Games › Board Game › Board Game + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Board Game Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Board Game + Choose Your Own Adventure
Only 19 developers shipped a Board Game Choose Your Own Adventure game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Erannorth Renaissance, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×7.6 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×937 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) |
| Top 5% | $112k (exactly $111,544) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 73 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Board Game, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 552 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Board Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + SpaceFair
- + Alternate HistoryFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Party GameFair
- + DragonsFair
Comparable games
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M 
THE GAME OF LIFE 2 2020 · $1.4M 
Foretales 2022 · $467k 
Nantucket 2018 · $422k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | Hand of Fate | older | $19.99 | 8,009 89% | 240k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) | Defiant Development |
| | THE GAME OF LIFE 2 | older | $12.49 | 3,702 78% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
| | Nantucket | older | $17.99 | 782 78% | 23k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | Picaresque Games |
 | The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | older | $19.99 | 352 76% | 11k | $211k (exactly $211,094) | Tin Man Games |
 | 7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat | older | $19.99 | 301 61% | 9.0k | $181k (exactly $180,510) | Mousechief |
 | Dynamic Dungeons Editor | older | $29.99 | 158 60% | 4.7k | $142k (exactly $142,153) | Dynamic Dungeons |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Worlds of Aria | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Ludogram | |
 | PENTALOOP -ペンタループ- | $3.99 | 55 72% | 1.7k | $6.6k (exactly $6,584) | イバラユーギ×ひろゆ～プロジェクト | |
 | Teach Kids Games | $9.99 | 8 0% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | 2kblater | |
 | Quickcast | $7.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) | ooze | |
 | Haulin' Oats | $9.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | Gramps Games | |
 | MEMOLOGY: War of Memes | $0.99 | 52 76% | 1.6k | $1.5k (exactly $1,544) | Piece Of Voxel, Gamesforfarm, hannibaln… (Piece Of Voxel, Gamesforfarm, hannibalnotdead) | |
 | Stratum Descent | $4.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | That Indie Studio | |
 | Diamond Painting | $7.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | LeiZna | |
 | Write Warz | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Boltz Entertainment |
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.