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Should I ship a Choices Matter Tower Defense?
Choices Matter + Tower Defense
Of 81 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Tower Defense 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.. 159 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×472 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 159 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 5% | $224k (exactly $224,288) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 81 |
| Released games | 204 |
| Announced | 159 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Tower Defense
- 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, Tower Defense; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Base Building
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 12,520 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 159 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense | older | $19.99 | 9,906 93% | 297k | $5.9M (exactly $5,940,628) | Ironhide Game Studio |
| | Kingdom Rush Origins - Tower Defense | older | $14.99 | 7,466 95% | 224k | $3.4M (exactly $3,357,460) | Ironhide Game Studio |
| | Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Tower Defense | older | $9.99 | 10,011 96% | 300k | $3.0M (exactly $3,000,297) | Ironhide Game Studio |
| | Tower Dominion | $17.49 | 5,117 85% | 154k | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) | Parallel 45 Games | |
| | Nordhold | $19.99 | 2,875 87% | 86k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,137) | StunForge | |
| | EverSiege: Untold Ages | $19.99 | 1,906 68% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) | Tindalos Interactive | |
| | DarkSwitch | $34.99 | 714 77% | 21k | $749k (exactly $749,486) | Cyber Temple | |
| | Isle of Arrows | older | $12.99 | 937 80% | 28k | $365k (exactly $365,149) | Gridpop |
| | Ghost Master: Resurrection | $19.99 | 374 82% | 11k | $224k (exactly $224,288) | Mechano Story Studio | |
| | Cube Chaos | $11.99 | 621 95% | 19k | $223k (exactly $223,374) | Wunarg | |
| | Here Comes The Swarm | · EA | $19.99 | 358 84% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | CableHook Games |
| | Keep Keepers | $17.99 | 135 87% | 4.1k | $73k (exactly $72,860) | Thunderrock Innovations | |
| | Ash & Adam's Existential Treads | $6.99 | 340 92% | 10k | $71k (exactly $71,298) | Ash & Adam's Games | |
| | Mythic Battlegrounds: Demonic Siege | $14.99 | 80 73% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | DochiGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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