Games › Turn-Based › Turn-Based + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Chess
Only 12 developers shipped a Chess Turn-Based 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, Gambonanza, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 13 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,383) |
| Top 5% | $721k (exactly $721,319) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 400% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Chess
- effort 1 / 10 · high · fully specified rules and known engines
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based, Chess
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 75% positive over 1,800 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 13 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
Comparable games
Frozen Synapse 2011 · $831k 
Gambonanza 2026 · $721k 
Chess Ultra 2017 · $714k 
Battle Chess 2017 · $66k 
Egyptian Senet 2015 · $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 | |
| | Chess Ultra | older | $12.99 | 1,832 76% | 55k | $714k (exactly $713,930) | Ripstone |
| | Battle Chess | older | $19.99 | 110 81% | 3.3k | $66k (exactly $65,967) | Interplay Entertainment Corp. |
| | 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 |
 | Khet 2.0 | older | $9.99 | 117 89% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | BlueLine Games |
 | Once a Pawn a King | $11.99 | 54 55% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Clover Bite | |
 | Tabulo | $9.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Noah Games | |
 | Militia | older | $5.99 | 90 94% | 2.7k | $16k (exactly $16,173) | BrainGoodGames |
 | Order Automatica | $5.99 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $10k (exactly $10,423) | New Beings | |
 | Solo Chess | $9.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | NourSaiFR | |
 | A Game of Chaess | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | Yohan Fabre (Gamezel) | |
 | Unto Deepest Depths | $6.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | McCollum Games | |
 | Checkers Kingdom | $4.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Pinch Games | |
 | Mind Over Monarchy | $3.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $598 (exactly $598) | Wise Puppy | |
 | Top Check: A Chess Card Game | $11.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $360 (exactly $360) | Gliding Knight Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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