Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Board Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Board Game?

PvE + Board Game

Of 102 developers who shipped a PvE 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.. 157 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 58 developers shipped in the last year and 157 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 157 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Board Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 102
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $899 → $2.5k → $2.2k → $449 → $90 → $239 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Board Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 102
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,063)
Top 5% $18k (exactly $18,457)
Developers, 2 yr 102
Released games 283
Announced 157
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 flat on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Board Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE, Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvP, Card Game
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,225 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $18k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M Dokapon Kingdom: Connect 2023 · $1.2M Talisman: Digital Classic Edition 2014 · $1.2M Tales & Tactics 2024 · $937k Hex of Steel 2020 · $647k
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
Dokapon Kingdom: Connect older $49.99 801 86% 24k $1.2M (exactly $1,201,260) Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Sting
Talisman: Digital Classic Edition older $6.99 5,557 80% 167k $1.2M (exactly $1,165,303) Nomad Games
Tales & Tactics older $17.99 1,737 80% 52k $937k (exactly $937,459) Table 9 Studio
Hex of Steel older $24.99 863 95% 26k $647k (exactly $646,991) War Frogs Studio
Ark Nova $22.99 825 94% 25k $569k (exactly $569,002) Dire Wolf
GWENT: Rogue Mage (Single-Player Expansion) older $9.99 1,266 54% 38k $379k (exactly $379,420) CD PROJEKT RED
Clank! $22.99 542 92% 16k $374k (exactly $373,817) Dire Wolf
Mahokenshi - The Samurai Deckbuilder older $24.99 464 77% 14k $348k (exactly $347,861) Game Source Studio
DOKAPON! Sword of Fury $24.99 354 85% 11k $265k (exactly $265,394) Sting
Trizon $8.99 589 92% 18k $159k (exactly $158,853) Ling
Passant: A Chess Roguelike $11.99 363 79% 11k $131k (exactly $130,571) Marc Makes Games
Cascadia $14.99 210 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Dire Wolf
Stellar Orphans $16.99 139 71% 4.2k $71k (exactly $70,848) Artifex Parvus
Magibrick $7.99 77 72% 2.3k $18k (exactly $18,457) Fourth Front
Card Summoner $14.99 32 50% 960 $14k (exactly $14,390) Happenstance Games
Anomaly Mahjong $4.99 94 65% 2.8k $14k (exactly $14,072) YUTAMARO WORLD

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.