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Should I ship a Board Game Visual Novel?
Board Game + Visual Novel
Only 17 developers shipped a Board Game Visual Novel 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, StarVaders, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×12 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×23688 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 19 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,952) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 64 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 down 60% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, 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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Board Game, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- all of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 4,753 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Board Game with a different second tag, 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
StarVaders 2025 · $2.8M 
Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp 2022 · $456k 
Regency Solitaire 2015 · $201k 
Menherarium: Deadly Dice 2026 · $180k 
Regency Solitaire II 2024 · $94k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | StarVaders | $24.99 | 3,760 97% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) | Pengonauts | |
| | Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp | older | $19.99 | 761 62% | 23k | $456k (exactly $456,372) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | Regency Solitaire | older | $11.99 | 559 96% | 17k | $201k (exactly $201,072) | Grey Alien Games |
| | Menherarium: Deadly Dice | $8.99 | 669 92% | 20k | $180k (exactly $180,429) | テスカトリポカ | |
| | Regency Solitaire II | older | $14.99 | 210 97% | 6.3k | $94k (exactly $94,437) | Grey Alien Games |
 | 你已经猜到结局了吗 | older | $7.99 | 388 92% | 12k | $93k (exactly $93,004) | 橘音 |
 | Rough Justice: '84 | older | $19.99 | 67 64% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $40,180) | Gamma Minus |
 | Body Pay | older | $7.99 | 157 75% | 4.7k | $38k (exactly $37,633) | Cheese Burger Studio |
 | GLASS2 | older | $3.99 | 204 76% | 6.1k | $24k (exactly $24,419) | TeamSnowball |
 | Happy Puzzle | older | $1.99 | 337 86% | 10k | $20k (exactly $20,119) | HappyGames |
 | Calamity Angels: Special Delivery | $29.99 | 20 50% | 600 | $18k (exactly $17,994) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart | |
 | Body Pay "OMG! The girl with the big titties is too hitting on me!" | $4.99 | 117 73% | 3.5k | $18k (exactly $17,515) | Cheese Burger Studio | |
 | Fortune Fragments | $15.99 | 27 96% | 810 | $13k (exactly $12,952) | Runoi Games | |
 | 초동수사 - 증언/증거 추리게임 | $4.99 | 60 80% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | leeroom shin | |
 | Locked and Wagered: A Girlfriend at Stake | $6.99 | 37 59% | 1.1k | $7.8k (exactly $7,759) | NTR教団 | |
 | PENTALOOP -ペンタループ- | $3.99 | 55 72% | 1.7k | $6.6k (exactly $6,584) | イバラユーギ×ひろゆ～プロジェクト | |
 | SEX & DICE | $11.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) | SUCCUBUS ZONE | |
 | Chalk & Blood | · EA | $8.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | BoiraTech |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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