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Should I ship a Fantasy Board Game?
Board Game + Fantasy
Of 193 developers who shipped a Fantasy 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.. 275 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×559 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 275 games are announced against 122 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $5.1k (exactly $5,124) |
| Top 5% | $265k (exactly $265,394) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 193 |
| Released games | 631 |
| Announced | 275 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 6,541 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 93 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 275 games are announced against 122 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Board Game with a different setting or mood, 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
For The King 2018 · $19M 
For The King II 2023 · $9.5M 
Armello 2015 · $8.3M 
Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) 2017 · $6.4M 
Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | For The King | older | $19.99 | 31,038 87% | 931k | $19M (exactly $18,613,489) | IronOak Games |
| | For The King II | older | $24.99 | 12,708 71% | 381k | $9.5M (exactly $9,527,188) | IronOak Games |
| | Armello | older | $24.99 | 11,013 82% | 330k | $8.3M (exactly $8,256,446) | League of Geeks |
| | Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 7,077 78% | 212k | $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) | Cyanide Studios |
| | Hand of Fate | older | $19.99 | 8,009 89% | 240k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) | Defiant Development |
 | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
 | Mordheim: City of the Damned | older | $19.99 | 7,056 72% | 212k | $4.2M (exactly $4,231,483) | Rogue Factor |
 | Blood Bowl 3 | older | $29.99 | 3,940 51% | 118k | $3.5M (exactly $3,544,818) | Cyanide Studio |
 | TaleSpire | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,391 89% | 132k | $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) | Bouncyrock Entertainment |
 | Dune: Imperium | older | $22.99 | 3,806 94% | 114k | $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) | Dire Wolf |
 | Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked | $29.99 | 1,235 82% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,111,130) | Resolution Games | |
 | Frosthaven | · EA | $39.99 | 814 72% | 24k | $977k (exactly $976,556) | Snapshot Games Inc. |
 | The Legend of Fancy Realm Remake | $24.99 | 897 86% | 27k | $672k (exactly $672,481) | USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd. | |
 | The Jackbox Party Pack 11 | $29.99 | 419 93% | 13k | $377k (exactly $376,974) | Jackbox Games, Inc. | |
 | Clank! | $22.99 | 542 92% | 16k | $374k (exactly $373,817) | Dire Wolf | |
 | Inkshade | $19.99 | 620 87% | 19k | $372k (exactly $371,814) | Studio Vezelle | |
 | HEART of CROWN Online | $29.99 | 412 84% | 12k | $371k (exactly $370,676) | illuCalab, FLIPFLOPs, quziralab. | |
 | Viractal: Will You Trust Your Party? | $24.99 | 448 88% | 13k | $336k (exactly $335,866) | Sting | |
 | Dawnfolk | $14.99 | 664 94% | 20k | $299k (exactly $298,601) | Darenn Keller | |
 | Sandwalkers | $19.99 | 490 73% | 15k | $294k (exactly $293,853) | Goblinz Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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