Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Chess

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Chess game?

Grid-Based Movement + Chess

Of 29 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Chess 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: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 27 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 27 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Chess
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.7k → $1.3k → $3.6k → $119 → $90 → $1.0k → $119 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Chess: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,850)
Top 5% $19k (exactly $19,424)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 72
Announced 27
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 25% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Chess
effort 1 / 10 · high · fully specified rules and known engines

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement, Chess; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Puzzle
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 303 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $19k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Pawnbarian 2021 · $135k Chessformer 2022 · $46k WizardChess 2024 · $25k Once a Pawn a King 2026 · $19k Gambit Shifter 2024 · $15k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pawnbarian older $9.99 450 91% 14k $135k (exactly $134,865) j4nw
Chessformer older $4.99 306 100% 9.2k $46k (exactly $45,808) Robert Alvarez
WizardChess $14.99 56 83% 1.7k $25k (exactly $25,183) TwoPM Studios
Once a Pawn a King $11.99 54 55% 1.6k $19k (exactly $19,424) Clover Bite
Gambit Shifter older $7.99 63 96% 1.9k $15k (exactly $15,101) Volcanite Games
ChessCraft older $5.99 81 96% 2.4k $15k (exactly $14,556) Stuart Spence
Unlock The King older $0.99 329 95% 9.9k $9.8k (exactly $9,771) Minimol Games
PANIK $9.99 30 100% 900 $9.0k (exactly $8,991) ChumasGames
Chess Dungeons older $9.99 24 79% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Remix Games, Luis Fae
Swim Out older $5.99 40 65% 1.2k $7.2k (exactly $7,188) Lozange Lab
Mate'Morphosis $2.99 49 95% 1.5k $4.4k (exactly $4,395) WiseMonkeES, Bruder Studio
Chess, Texas $4.99 27 81% 810 $4.0k (exactly $4,042) Studio Apollo
Petrified Pawns $5.99 17 88% 510 $3.1k (exactly $3,055) Bepansrad Studio
Black Pieces Move First $6.99 14 92% 420 $2.9k (exactly $2,936) Enchant Games
The Board is Yours $2.50 38 97% 1.1k $2.9k (exactly $2,850) Draelent
Dunchess · EA $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Chateau Pixel SL
Unto Deepest Depths $6.99 5 100% 150 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) McCollum Games

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