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Should I ship a Choices Matter Grid-Based Movement game?
Choices Matter + Grid-Based Movement
Of 54 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Grid-Based Movement 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.. 113 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×187 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 113 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,930) |
| Top 5% | $89k (exactly $88,591) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 54 |
| Released games | 143 |
| Announced | 113 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, RPG, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,209 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 113 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | King Arthur: Knight's Tale | older | $44.99 | 6,722 83% | 202k | $9.1M (exactly $9,072,683) | NeocoreGames |
| | TRIANGLE STRATEGY | older | $59.99 | 3,239 78% | 97k | $5.8M (exactly $5,829,228) | Square Enix, ARTDINK |
| | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
| | Those Who Rule | $17.99 | 1,116 89% | 33k | $602k (exactly $602,305) | Eldin Turulja | |
| | King Arthur: Legion IX | older | $19.99 | 774 72% | 23k | $464k (exactly $464,168) | NeocoreGames |
| | The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | older | $19.99 | 352 76% | 11k | $211k (exactly $211,094) | Tin Man Games |
| | Soul Nomad & the World Eaters | older | $19.99 | 170 78% | 5.1k | $102k (exactly $101,949) | Nippon Ichi Software, Inc., Codeglue |
| | Master of Piece | · EA | $14.99 | 197 86% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | I M GAME, I M fine |
| | Slot & Dungeons | $8.99 | 304 83% | 9.1k | $82k (exactly $81,989) | MUC GAMES | |
| | Islands of the Caliph | older | $9.99 | 272 88% | 8.2k | $82k (exactly $81,518) | Schmidt Workshops |
| | Together in Battle | $19.99 | 134 90% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $80,360) | Sinister Design | |
| | Avernum 4: Greed and Glory | $19.99 | 133 92% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $79,760) | Spiderweb Software | |
| | Gales of Nayeli | $24.99 | 87 88% | 2.6k | $65k (exactly $65,224) | Blindcoco Studios | |
| | Takara Cards | $14.99 | 112 83% | 3.4k | $50k (exactly $50,366) | Post Mortem Pixels | |
| | Meteorfall: Rustbowl Rumble | $14.99 | 93 91% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | Slothwerks | |
| | Stackflow | $6.99 | 195 88% | 5.9k | $41k (exactly $40,892) | Caue Ferrareto |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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