Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Building

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Building

Only 12 developers shipped a Building Party-Based RPG 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, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $32k, ×51 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $9.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $5.3M, ×8445 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 50.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 37 announced, ×4.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Building
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $32k → $600 → $24k → $121k → $369k (still earning) → $9.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Building: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $9.6k (exactly $9,576)
Median $32k (exactly $31,903)
Top 25% $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154)
Top 5% $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 41
Announced 37
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $17.99

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 50% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 32%, 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.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
Party-Based RPG, Building
Price point
$17.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 13,814 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $9.6k, median $32k, 1 in 4 over $3.7M, 1 in 20 over $5.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $9.6k. 37 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  5. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $49k · 25 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  8. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  11. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds46 devs · median $13k · 87 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Kenshi 2018 · $89M Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma 2025 · $5.3M OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 2025 · $4.3M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M TaleSpire 2021 · EA · $3.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kenshi older $29.99 98,451 95% 3.0M $89M (exactly $88,576,365) Lo-Fi Games
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $59.99 2,947 88% 88k $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) Marvelous Inc.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 $49.99 2,873 78% 86k $4.3M (exactly $4,308,638) Square Enix, DOKIDOKI GROOVE WORKS
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
TaleSpire · EA older $24.99 4,391 89% 132k $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) Bouncyrock Entertainment
Valorborn · EA $24.99 492 60% 15k $369k (exactly $368,852) Laps Games
High Sea Saga DX older $8.99 501 81% 15k $135k (exactly $135,120) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Ascent of Ashes · EA $14.99 268 68% 8.0k $121k (exactly $120,520) Vivid Storm Interactive
RPG Stories · EA older $29.99 36 77% 1.1k $32k (exactly $32,389) Brave Alice Games
Monster Alchemy · EA $18.99 56 91% 1.7k $32k (exactly $31,903) Team Metacarpo
Chronomon · EA $9.99 79 83% 2.4k $24k (exactly $23,676) Stone Golem Studios
Remain · EA $7.99 47 12% 1.4k $11k (exactly $11,266) XTop Game
Holonoptic $19.95 16 93% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,576) Glazial
我就是建-I just build $4.99 17 94% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) Kwing works

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