Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Chess
Of 46 developers who shipped a Chess Puzzle 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.. 43 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×5.0 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $60. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 43 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 5% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 147 |
| Announced | 43 |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Puzzle, Chess; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Grid-Based Movement
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 385 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. All of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel 2020 · $2.9M 
Still There 2019 · $346k 
King of the Bridge 2024 · $150k 
Pawnbarian 2021 · $135k 
Pure Chess Grandmaster Edition 2016 · $112k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
| | Still There | older | $14.99 | 770 87% | 23k | $346k (exactly $346,269) | GhostShark |
| | King of the Bridge | older | $2.99 | 1,667 95% | 50k | $150k (exactly $149,530) | Finn Schuuring |
| | Pawnbarian | older | $9.99 | 450 91% | 14k | $135k (exactly $134,865) | j4nw |
| | Pure Chess Grandmaster Edition | older | $15.99 | 233 74% | 7.0k | $112k (exactly $111,770) | Ripstone |
 | Dark Chess | older | $12.99 | 155 76% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | Tall Troll Games |
 | Egyptian Senet | older | $9.99 | 200 81% | 6.0k | $60k (exactly $59,940) | Ezzat Studios |
 | Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure (Chess) | older | $19.99 | 99 74% | 3.0k | $59k (exactly $59,370) | Pixel Wizards |
 | Chessarama | older | $14.99 | 121 90% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $54,414) | Minimol Games |
 | Chessplosion | older | $11.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $50k (exactly $50,358) | C.T. Matthews |
 | WizardChess | $14.99 | 56 83% | 1.7k | $25k (exactly $25,183) | TwoPM Studios | |
 | Chess Infinity | $9.99 | 84 63% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $25,175) | Rockwater Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Chess Kingdom | $4.99 | 45 91% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Pinch Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | 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 | |
 | Chaos Pieces | $11.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Suzuki Ken |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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