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Should I ship a Futuristic Board Game?
Board Game + Futuristic
Of 30 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $43k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 51 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) |
| Top 5% | $43k (exactly $43,483) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 94 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.49 |
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 65% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Futuristic
- 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 Strategy, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.49 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.49.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 283 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M 
Terraformers 2023 · $1.8M 
Gaia Project 2021 · $263k 
Moves Of The Diamond Hand 2026 · EA · $63k 
Amberspire 2026 · $43k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dune: Imperium | older | $22.99 | 3,806 94% | 114k | $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) | Dire Wolf |
| | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
| | Gaia Project | older | $24.99 | 351 80% | 11k | $263k (exactly $263,145) | DIGIDICED |
| | Moves Of The Diamond Hand | · EA | $19.99 | 105 100% | 3.2k | $63k (exactly $62,968) | Cosmo D Studios |
| | Amberspire | $24.99 | 58 86% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $43,483) | Lunar Division | |
 | One Deck Galaxy | older | $12.99 | 55 70% | 1.7k | $21k (exactly $21,434) | Handelabra Games Inc. |
 | Rise of Humanity | · EA older | $19.99 | 27 62% | 810 | $16k (exactly $16,192) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Under Domain - Alien Invasion Simulator | older | $5.99 | 77 45% | 2.3k | $14k (exactly $13,837) | Playlearn |
 | 真空战姬 | older | $6.99 | 55 96% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,534) | PEARFLOWER |
 | High Frontier 4 All | $19.99 | 17 17% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | Johan Brandt, Stewart Wan, Erik Lund, N… (Johan Brandt, Stewart Wan, Erik Lund, Nicolas Mondino, Theo Sandén, Leonard Wahlund, Alexander Wahrenstedt, Carl Nordholm, Erico Pizarro Gutierrez, Natdanai Puthom, Olivia Bernardsson, Dag Petersen, Sam Abou-Gabal, Pablo Schmidt, Spilios Kehagias, Aphiwit Lekphet, Zongying Liu, Markus Vikmanis, Kamila Kuzmiuk, Edvin Skogsholm Sanne, Janina Carvajal Ibacache, Adam Kallberg, Ricky Truong, Carl Forden, Robin Christopher Öhman Tejre, Malte Gundhus, Mathias Novakovic, Christopher Vedlund, Ivo Öjhage, Benjamin Grissom, Linus Granskog) | |
 | Bullet: Surge | $15.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Cerbere Games | |
 | COMBOTRONICA | $14.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | Grid Cortex Games | |
 | HexaScape: Cyber Defense | $14.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Clockwork Origins | |
 | AUTARKIS | $4.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) | rockingprojects | |
 | Manacaster | · EA | $24.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Manacaster Games |
 | EMERGE | $12.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $3.1k (exactly $3,118) | Krish Shrikumar | |
 | Sente | $7.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Oxobox Games Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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