Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Chess

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Chess game?

PvE + Chess

Only 13 developers shipped a PvE Chess game 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, Passant: A Chess Roguelike, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×4.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 33 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 1170% on the market, 33 announced, ×4.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Chess
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $6.5k → $59 → $150 → $748 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Chess: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $360 (exactly $360)
Top 25% $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 5% $131k (exactly $130,571)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 33
Announced 33
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 up 1170% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Chess
effort 1 / 10 · high · fully specified rules and known engines

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
PvE, Chess; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Logic
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

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

The top 9 games average 82% positive over 451 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $1.2k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

King of the Bridge 2024 · $150k Passant: A Chess Roguelike 2025 · $131k Dark Chess 2023 · $60k Hnefatafl 2020 · $14k Progress Chess 2024 · $6.5k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
King of the Bridge older $2.99 1,667 95% 50k $150k (exactly $149,530) Finn Schuuring
Passant: A Chess Roguelike $11.99 363 79% 11k $131k (exactly $130,571) Marc Makes Games
Dark Chess older $12.99 155 76% 4.7k $60k (exactly $60,404) Tall Troll Games
Hnefatafl older $9.99 48 100% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,386) Philippe Schober
Progress Chess older $7.99 27 77% 810 $6.5k (exactly $6,472) Progress Games
Chess: The Lost Pieces older $7.99 20 70% 600 $4.8k (exactly $4,794) Yağız Selimoğlu
Mate'Morphosis $2.99 49 95% 1.5k $4.4k (exactly $4,395) WiseMonkeES, Bruder Studio
Petrified Pawns $5.99 17 88% 510 $3.1k (exactly $3,055) Bepansrad Studio
Chess Tools older $11.99 7 100% 210 $2.5k (exactly $2,518) Tom Sykes
Samurai Chess older $1.99 31 77% 930 $1.9k (exactly $1,851) Minimol Games
Blindfold Chess $6.99 6 83% 180 $1.3k (exactly $1,258) Marmotsoft
Chess Knightmare $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) RanDev Software
Chess AI $1.99 7 100% 210 $418 (exactly $418) General Turtle
Top Check: A Chess Card Game $11.99 1 0% 30 $360 (exactly $360) Gliding Knight Games
Backstabbing King $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Flown
Chess Visualized · EA $0.99 2 100% 60 $59 (exactly $59) The Lunar Carver
Auto GUI Battler $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) L6161

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