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Should I ship a War Board Game?
Board Game + War
Of 51 developers who shipped a War 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×416 the market median. Revenue is up 300% on the market; 74 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,486) |
| Top 5% | $261k (exactly $261,276) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 179 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 300% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- War
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Board Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 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 $8.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 2,554 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
Ultimate General: Civil War 2017 · $7.5M 
Axis & Allies 1942 Online 2021 · $2.9M 
Root 2020 · $2.3M 
Scythe: Digital Edition 2018 · $1.9M 
Solium Infernum 2024 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ultimate General: Civil War | older | $29.99 | 8,331 88% | 250k | $7.5M (exactly $7,495,401) | Game-Labs |
| | Axis & Allies 1942 Online | older | $19.99 | 4,810 78% | 144k | $2.9M (exactly $2,884,557) | Beamdog |
| | Root | older | $14.99 | 5,049 90% | 151k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) | Dire Wolf |
| | Scythe: Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,164 89% | 95k | $1.9M (exactly $1,897,451) | The Knights of Unity |
| | Solium Infernum | older | $39.99 | 1,571 88% | 47k | $1.9M (exactly $1,884,729) | League of Geeks |
 | A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,705 71% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) | Dire Wolf |
 | Line War | older | $24.99 | 1,076 80% | 32k | $807k (exactly $806,677) | Studio Centurion |
 | Second Front | older | $34.99 | 613 78% | 18k | $643k (exactly $643,466) | Hexdraw |
 | Headquarters: World War II | older | $39.99 | 508 74% | 15k | $609k (exactly $609,448) | Starni Games |
 | Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg | older | $39.99 | 442 84% | 13k | $530k (exactly $530,267) | Starni Games |
 | Burden of Command™ | $24.99 | 628 83% | 19k | $471k (exactly $470,812) | Green Tree Games LLC | |
 | HEART of CROWN Online | $29.99 | 412 84% | 12k | $371k (exactly $370,676) | illuCalab, FLIPFLOPs, quziralab. | |
 | The Conquest of Go | $14.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $261k (exactly $261,276) | Wolfey Studios | |
 | Mr. President | $19.99 | 162 75% | 4.9k | $97k (exactly $97,151) | Exia Labs | |
 | Monopoly: Star Wars™ Heroes vs. Villains | $29.99 | 94 39% | 2.8k | $85k (exactly $84,572) | Behaviour Interactive Inc. | |
 | No Retreat! The Russian Front | $29.99 | 80 76% | 2.4k | $72k (exactly $71,976) | Cyril Jarnot, Avalon Digital | |
 | How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine | $12.99 | 161 83% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | Breakfirst Games | |
 | Bonaparte - A Mechanized Revolution | $24.99 | 72 68% | 2.2k | $54k (exactly $53,978) | Studio Imugi | |
 | Space Imperia 4X | $22.99 | 70 92% | 2.1k | $48k (exactly $48,279) | Breich Games | |
 | Deckline | $3.99 | 294 86% | 8.8k | $35k (exactly $35,192) | Room Games, KREIDPIX |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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