Games › Board Game › Board Game + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Board Game?
Board Game + Horror
Of 32 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 46 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×783 the market median. Revenue is up 760% on the market; 46 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,407) |
| Top 5% | $372k (exactly $371,814) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 102 |
| Announced | 46 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 760% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Horror
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Tabletop
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 52,238 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 6 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Liar's Bar 2024 · EA · $10M 
The Jackbox Party Pack 6 2019 · $2.1M 
Solium Infernum 2024 · $1.9M 
Lara Croft GO 2016 · $981k 
Tharsis 2016 · $647k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Liar's Bar | · EA | $6.99 | 48,708 89% | 1.5M | $10M (exactly $10,214,068) | Curve Animation |
| | The Jackbox Party Pack 6 | older | $29.99 | 2,343 95% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,107,997) | Jackbox Games, Inc. |
| | Solium Infernum | older | $39.99 | 1,571 88% | 47k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,729) | League of Geeks |
| | Lara Croft GO | older | $9.99 | 3,274 94% | 98k | $981k (exactly $981,218) | Square Enix Montréal |
| | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
 | Inkshade | $19.99 | 620 87% | 19k | $372k (exactly $371,814) | Studio Vezelle | |
 | Arkham Horror: Mother's Embrace | older | $19.99 | 565 63% | 17k | $339k (exactly $338,830) | Twin Sails Interactive |
 | The Horror at Highrook | $19.99 | 461 90% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Nullpointer Games | |
 | Clue/Cluedo | older | $14.99 | 489 89% | 15k | $220k (exactly $219,903) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Bogos Binted? | $5.49 | 1,134 91% | 34k | $187k (exactly $186,770) | underbadger | |
 | Cut That Wire | $6.99 | 243 84% | 7.3k | $51k (exactly $50,957) | WakaStudio | |
 | Succubus Roulette | $2.99 | 561 90% | 17k | $50k (exactly $50,322) | PurpleCrit | |
 | Deckline | $3.99 | 294 86% | 8.8k | $35k (exactly $35,192) | Room Games, KREIDPIX | |
 | Spider Roulette | $4.99 | 143 91% | 4.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | Kud | |
 | Cheat Death | $12.99 | 45 84% | 1.4k | $18k (exactly $17,536) | GG Studio | |
 | Board Game Society | $14.99 | 29 62% | 870 | $13k (exactly $13,041) | Jetebra Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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