Games › Board Game › Board Game + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Board Game?
Board Game + Sci-fi
Of 52 developers who shipped a Sci-fi 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.. 85 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $43k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 350% on the market; 85 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $896 (exactly $896) |
| Top 25% | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) |
| Top 5% | $43k (exactly $43,483) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 178 |
| Announced | 85 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 350% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Sci-fi
- 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, Turn-Based Strategy, Tabletop
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 663 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. Nearly all of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus 2018 · $10M 
Terraforming Mars 2018 · $3.1M 
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel 2020 · $2.9M 
Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M 
Scythe: Digital Edition 2018 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus | older | $29.99 | 11,279 91% | 338k | $10M (exactly $10,147,716) | Bulwark Studios |
| | Terraforming Mars | older | $19.99 | 5,194 71% | 156k | $3.1M (exactly $3,114,842) | Artefacts Studio |
| | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
| | Dune: Imperium | older | $22.99 | 3,806 94% | 114k | $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) | Dire Wolf |
| | Scythe: Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,164 89% | 95k | $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) | The Knights of Unity |
 | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
 | NEOVERSE | older | $19.99 | 2,882 84% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,728,335) | Tinogames Inc. |
 | Space Hulk (Classic) | older | $19.99 | 1,576 71% | 47k | $945k (exactly $945,127) | Full Control Studios |
 | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
 | Nemesis: Lockdown | older | $24.99 | 732 68% | 22k | $549k (exactly $548,780) | InterStudio |
 | Stellar Orphans | $16.99 | 139 71% | 4.2k | $71k (exactly $70,848) | Artifex Parvus | |
 | Space Imperia 4X | $22.99 | 70 92% | 2.1k | $48k (exactly $48,279) | Breich Games | |
 | Amberspire | $24.99 | 58 86% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $43,483) | Lunar Division | |
 | Eclipse - 2nd Dawn for the Galaxy | $12.99 | 95 57% | 2.9k | $37k (exactly $37,022) | BrettspielWelt GmbH | |
 | Vestiges: Fallen Tribes | $24.99 | 36 80% | 1.1k | $27k (exactly $26,989) | WanadevStudio | |
 | Tactical Annihilation | $15.99 | 56 98% | 1.7k | $27k (exactly $26,863) | B.G. Game Studio | |
 | Astro Protocol | $11.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | Null Vector Studios | |
 | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD | $9.99 | 73 83% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Logix Interactive | |
 | NET.CRAWL | $9.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | Everyone is Solid | |
 | Signal Maze | $14.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | theArkitect |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.