Should I ship a Chess Logic game?
Logic + Chess
Of 40 developers who shipped a Chess Logic 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.. 39 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $120 for a 2 / 10 build. 29 developers shipped in the last year and 39 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $150 (exactly $150) |
| Top 25% | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 5% | $131k (exactly $130,571) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 40 |
| Released games | 126 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 2 / 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 90% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Logic, Chess; 5 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
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 874 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Logic with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LovecraftianFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + NoirFair
- + HackingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DragonsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Bullet TimeFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + TransportationFair
- + Automobile SimFair
- + CookingFair
Comparable games
Master of Chess 2025 · $174k 
Passant: A Chess Roguelike 2025 · $131k 
Chessformer 2022 · $46k 
3D Math - Ultra 2020 · $33k 
Miracle Sudoku 2020 · $26k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Master of Chess | $19.99 | 290 83% | 8.7k | $174k (exactly $173,913) | BRANE | |
| | Passant: A Chess Roguelike | $11.99 | 363 79% | 11k | $131k (exactly $130,571) | Marc Makes Games | |
| | Chessformer | older | $4.99 | 306 100% | 9.2k | $46k (exactly $45,808) | Robert Alvarez |
| | 3D Math - Ultra | older | $4.99 | 218 92% | 6.5k | $33k (exactly $32,635) | Big Mind Games 9000 |
| | Miracle Sudoku | older | $4.99 | 174 94% | 5.2k | $26k (exactly $26,048) | Studio Goya |
 | Chess | older | $7.99 | 101 78% | 3.0k | $24k (exactly $24,210) | Popoko VM Games |
 | KNIGHTS | older | $0.99 | 777 93% | 23k | $23k (exactly $23,077) | Arzola's |
 | The Rookery | older | $9.99 | 77 94% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $23,077) | Glyder Games |
 | Sudoku Zenkai / 数独全卡 | older | $3.99 | 177 88% | 5.3k | $21k (exactly $21,187) | ImaginationOverflow |
 | Yes, My Queen | $12.99 | 50 82% | 1.5k | $19k (exactly $19,485) | Wall Spaghetti | |
 | PANIK | $9.99 | 30 100% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | ChumasGames | |
 | Who Takes The Crown? | $7.99 | 37 83% | 1.1k | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) | devthedoug | |
 | Go | $7.99 | 25 72% | 750 | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) | Popoko VM Games | |
 | Mate'Morphosis | $2.99 | 49 95% | 1.5k | $4.4k (exactly $4,395) | WiseMonkeES, Bruder Studio | |
 | Black Pieces Move First | $6.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) | Enchant Games | |
 | Just Chess | $11.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $2.9k (exactly $2,878) | Pupugames | |
 | Chinese Chess - Xiangqi | $7.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) | Popoko VM Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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