Games › Tabletop › Tabletop + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Tabletop game?
Tabletop + Chess
Of 39 developers who shipped a Chess Tabletop 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.. 64 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270, ×2.3 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×1097 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 64 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) |
| Top 5% | $131k (exactly $130,571) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 157 |
| Announced | 64 |
| 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 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Tabletop, Chess; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Turn-Based Strategy
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 1,679 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tabletop with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
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Comparable games
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate 2022 · $1.8M 
Chess Ultra 2017 · $714k 
Battle Chess: Game of Kings™ 2015 · $324k 
Master of Chess 2025 · $174k 
Fritz Chess 14 2014 · $132k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate | older | $9.99 | 5,918 92% | 178k | $1.8M (exactly $1,773,625) | PUNKCAKE Delicieux |
| | Chess Ultra | older | $12.99 | 1,832 76% | 55k | $714k (exactly $713,930) | Ripstone |
| | Battle Chess: Game of Kings™ | older | $29.99 | 360 52% | 11k | $324k (exactly $323,892) | Olde Sküül, Sculptured Software |
| | Master of Chess | $19.99 | 290 83% | 8.7k | $174k (exactly $173,913) | BRANE | |
| | Fritz Chess 14 | older | $39.99 | 110 69% | 3.3k | $132k (exactly $131,967) | ChessBase |
 | Passant: A Chess Roguelike | $11.99 | 363 79% | 11k | $131k (exactly $130,571) | Marc Makes Games | |
 | Pure Chess Grandmaster Edition | older | $15.99 | 233 74% | 7.0k | $112k (exactly $111,770) | Ripstone |
 | Cat Chess | $6.99 | 456 87% | 14k | $96k (exactly $95,623) | Capricia Labs | |
 | Battle Chess | older | $19.99 | 110 81% | 3.3k | $66k (exactly $65,967) | Interplay Entertainment Corp. |
 | Dark Chess | older | $12.99 | 155 76% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | Tall Troll Games |
 | Hyper Chess | $2.99 | 321 92% | 9.6k | $29k (exactly $28,794) | Grouch, SuitNtie | |
 | Below the Crown | $14.99 | 64 96% | 1.9k | $29k (exactly $28,781) | Misfits Attic | |
 | Quantum Chess | $14.99 | 49 63% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | Quantum Realm Games | |
 | Yes, My Queen | $12.99 | 50 82% | 1.5k | $19k (exactly $19,485) | Wall Spaghetti | |
 | Chess Kingdom | $4.99 | 45 91% | 1.4k | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) | Pinch Games | |
 | Chess, Texas | $4.99 | 27 81% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Studio Apollo | |
 | Chesscent | $7.99 | 14 64% | 420 | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) | Alex did it |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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