Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Board Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Board Game Tactical game?

Tactical + Board Game

Of 229 developers who shipped a Board Game Tactical 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.. 289 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 289 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 50% on the market, 289 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Board Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 229
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $3.8k → $599 → $1.8k → $419 → $599 → $599 (still earning) → $201 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Board Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 229
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,027)
Top 5% $86k (exactly $85,812)
Developers, 2 yr 229
Released games 631
Announced 289
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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
Tactical, Board Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Turn-Based Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 5,990 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $85k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 117 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 289 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Gloomhaven older $34.99 13,628 82% 409k $14M (exactly $14,305,312) Flaming Fowl Studios, Saber Interactive
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus older $29.99 11,279 91% 338k $10M (exactly $10,147,716) Bulwark Studios
Ultimate General: Civil War older $29.99 8,331 88% 250k $7.5M (exactly $7,495,401) Game-Labs
Blood Bowl 2: Legendary Edition (Classic) older $29.99 7,077 78% 212k $6.4M (exactly $6,367,177) Cyanide Studios
Mordheim: City of the Damned older $19.99 7,056 72% 212k $4.2M (exactly $4,231,483) Rogue Factor
Blood Bowl 3 older $29.99 3,940 51% 118k $3.5M (exactly $3,544,818) Cyanide Studio
Football, Tactics & Glory older $24.99 3,998 87% 120k $3.0M (exactly $2,997,301) Creoteam
Stolen Realm older $19.99 3,470 84% 104k $2.1M (exactly $2,080,959) Burst2Flame Games
Scythe: Digital Edition older $19.99 3,164 89% 95k $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) The Knights of Unity
Through the Ages older $15.99 2,188 90% 66k $1.0M (exactly $1,049,584) CGE Digital
Frosthaven · EA $39.99 814 72% 24k $977k (exactly $976,556) Snapshot Games Inc.
Gambonanza $14.99 1,604 74% 48k $721k (exactly $721,319) Blukulélé
Burden of Command™ $24.99 628 83% 19k $471k (exactly $470,812) Green Tree Games LLC
Inkshade $19.99 620 87% 19k $372k (exactly $371,814) Studio Vezelle
Sandwalkers $19.99 490 73% 15k $294k (exactly $293,853) Goblinz Studio
The Conquest of Go $14.99 581 94% 17k $261k (exactly $261,276) Wolfey Studios
Dead Grid $12.99 504 93% 15k $196k (exactly $196,409) Atom Void
NEODUEL: Backpack Monsters $11.99 357 79% 11k $128k (exactly $128,413) dicehit, Rogue Duck Interactive
Dead Season $19.99 182 69% 5.5k $109k (exactly $109,145) Snail Bite
Cascadia $14.99 210 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Dire Wolf

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