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Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Board Game?
Board Game + Psychological Horror
Only 15 developers shipped a Psychological-Horror Board 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, Menherarium: Deadly Dice, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×380 the market median. Revenue is up 8485% on the market; 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,536) |
| Top 5% | $180k (exactly $180,429) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 8485% on the market, supply 300% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Board Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Tabletop
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, 2D, Experimental
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 1,254 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
Card Survival: Tropical Island 2022 · $2.2M 
Solium Infernum 2024 · $1.9M 
Spirit Island 2020 · $1.2M 
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 2021 · $1.0M | 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 |
| | Card Survival: Tropical Island | older | $24.99 | 2,962 94% | 89k | $2.2M (exactly $2,220,611) | WinterSpring Games |
| | Solium Infernum | older | $39.99 | 1,571 88% | 47k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,729) | League of Geeks |
| | Spirit Island | older | $24.99 | 1,545 91% | 46k | $1.2M (exactly $1,158,286) | Handelabra Games Inc. |
| | The Jackbox Party Pack 8 | older | $29.99 | 1,134 90% | 34k | $1.0M (exactly $1,020,260) | Jackbox Games, Inc. |
 | Warhammer Quest (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 897 71% | 27k | $807k (exactly $807,031) | Rodeo Games, Twistplay |
 | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
 | Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp | older | $19.99 | 761 62% | 23k | $456k (exactly $456,372) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | Adorables | older | $29.99 | 502 80% | 15k | $452k (exactly $451,649) | White Rabbit |
 | THE GAME OF LIFE | older | $6.49 | 2,215 73% | 66k | $431k (exactly $431,260) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Menherarium: Deadly Dice | $8.99 | 669 92% | 20k | $180k (exactly $180,429) | テスカトリポカ | |
 | 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 | |
 | Yclept | $6.99 | 36 86% | 1.1k | $7.5k (exactly $7,549) | Artur Shevale, Valerii Mukshin | |
 | Ba Bị | $4.99 | 42 100% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | BaBị Electric | |
 | Spin to Survive | $2.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) | Seal | |
 | The Others Will Join Shortly | $4.49 | 4 100% | 120 | $539 (exactly $539) | Pladq Games | |
 | Uno God | $3.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $479 (exactly $479) | JaSan | |
 | Question Roulette | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | Mysterious Alien |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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