Games › Tactical › Tactical + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Tactical game?
Tactical + Chess
Of 47 developers who shipped a Chess Tactical 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.. 55 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 34 developers shipped in the last year and 55 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 5% | $25k (exactly $25,183) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 47 |
| Released games | 106 |
| Announced | 55 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 260% on the market, supply 145% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Chess; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 1,864 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
Comparable games
Frozen Synapse 2011 · $831k 
Gambonanza 2026 · $721k 
Fritz Chess 17 Steam Edition 2020 · $140k 
Checkmate Showdown 2023 · $115k 
Dark Chess 2023 · $60k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Frozen Synapse | older | $24.99 | 1,108 89% | 33k | $831k (exactly $830,668) | Mode 7 |
| | Gambonanza | $14.99 | 1,604 74% | 48k | $721k (exactly $721,319) | Blukulélé | |
| | Fritz Chess 17 Steam Edition | older | $59.99 | 78 70% | 2.3k | $140k (exactly $140,377) | ChessBase GmbH |
| | Checkmate Showdown | older | $19.99 | 192 80% | 5.8k | $115k (exactly $115,142) | BadRez Games |
| | Dark Chess | older | $12.99 | 155 76% | 4.7k | $60k (exactly $60,404) | Tall Troll Games |
 | Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure (Chess) | older | $19.99 | 99 74% | 3.0k | $59k (exactly $59,370) | Pixel Wizards |
 | Below the Crown | $14.99 | 64 96% | 1.9k | $29k (exactly $28,781) | Misfits Attic | |
 | 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 | |
 | Chess Survivors | older | $4.99 | 155 83% | 4.7k | $23k (exactly $23,204) | Aarimous |
 | Chesscent | $7.99 | 14 64% | 420 | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) | Alex did it | |
 | Black Pieces Move First | $6.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) | Enchant Games | |
 | Chinese Chess - Xiangqi | $7.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) | Popoko VM Games | |
 | Chessman Adventures | · EA | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | DVK Games |
 | Chesscape Room | · EA | $11.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) | Figmenthol |
 | Blindfold Chess | $6.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Marmotsoft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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