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Should I ship a Space Board Game?
Board Game + Space
Of 28 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 27 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 27 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,878) |
| Top 5% | $71k (exactly $70,848) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 down 15% on the market, supply 35% more developers than 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
- Space
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Board Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Tabletop, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 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 $9.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 667 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
- + Alternate HistoryFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Party GameFair
- + DragonsFair
- + DogsFair
Comparable games
Terraforming Mars 2018 · $3.1M 
Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M 
Terraformers 2023 · $1.8M 
Tharsis 2016 · $647k 
Nexus 5X 2024 · $398k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Terraforming Mars | older | $19.99 | 5,194 71% | 156k | $3.1M (exactly $3,114,842) | Artefacts Studio |
| | 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 |
| | Tharsis | older | $14.99 | 1,438 71% | 43k | $647k (exactly $646,669) | Choice Provisions |
| | Nexus 5X | older | $14.99 | 884 90% | 27k | $398k (exactly $397,535) | Whatboy Games |
 | Project Planet - Earth vs Humanity | older | $24.99 | 361 78% | 11k | $271k (exactly $270,642) | Fifth Harbour Studios |
 | Gaia Project | older | $24.99 | 351 80% | 11k | $263k (exactly $263,145) | DIGIDICED |
 | The Banished Vault | older | $24.99 | 189 78% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Lunar Division |
 | Race for the Galaxy | older | $7.99 | 432 93% | 13k | $104k (exactly $103,550) | Temple Gates Games |
 | Solar Settlers | older | $9.99 | 297 94% | 8.9k | $89k (exactly $89,011) | BrainGoodGames |
 | Monopoly: Star Wars™ Heroes vs. Villains | $29.99 | 94 39% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | Behaviour Interactive Inc. | |
 | 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 | |
 | 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 | |
 | 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) | |
 | Dominova | $9.99 | 26 96% | 780 | $7.8k (exactly $7,792) | Glenn Verheij | |
 | AUTARKIS | $4.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $4.3k (exactly $4,341) | rockingprojects |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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