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Should I ship a Tower Defense Class-Based game?
Class-Based + Tower Defense
Only 16 developers shipped a Tower Defense Class-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, Tower Dominion, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 41 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×1.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.6M, ×1792 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 41 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $26,970) |
| Top 5% | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Class-Based
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Class-Based, Tower Defense; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Roguelite
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.49 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Isometric, 3D, Minimalist
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.49 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 6,051 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Class-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HeavenFair
- + SupernaturalLong shot
- + 2D PlatformerLong shot
- + FPSPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Third-Person ShooterPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
Comparable games
Tower Dominion 2025 · $2.7M 
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened 2020 · $1.5M 
Cube Chaos 2025 · $223k 
Tiny Tactics 2022 · $198k 
Samawa Idle 2023 · $90k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tower Dominion | $17.49 | 5,117 85% | 154k | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) | Parallel 45 Games | |
| | Dungeon Defenders: Awakened | older | $14.99 | 3,264 67% | 98k | $1.5M (exactly $1,467,821) | Chromatic Games |
| | Cube Chaos | $11.99 | 621 95% | 19k | $223k (exactly $223,374) | Wunarg | |
| | Tiny Tactics | older | $9.99 | 661 82% | 20k | $198k (exactly $198,102) | Tiny Forge Gaming |
| | Samawa Idle | older | $4.99 | 600 65% | 18k | $90k (exactly $89,820) | Samharia Studios |
 | DEFENDUN : Hero Defense | older | $8.99 | 159 72% | 4.8k | $43k (exactly $42,882) | MYMEStudio |
 | FLERP | older | $2.99 | 401 86% | 12k | $36k (exactly $35,970) | foolsroom |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games | |
 | Zombo Buster Advance | older | $4.99 | 184 82% | 5.5k | $28k (exactly $27,545) | FIREBEAST |
 | Wool at the Gates | $8.99 | 100 92% | 3.0k | $27k (exactly $26,970) | Okay Creature | |
 | Open The Gate: Just A Little | $5.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $6.6k (exactly $6,649) | Abubu Dance | |
 | Dawnhold | $9.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Alex Spalvieri | |
 | Hang up Street | $3.99 | 38 50% | 1.1k | $4.5k (exactly $4,549) | FoxGame | |
 | ZedFall: Outbreak | · EA | $9.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | CaptainJaySolo |
 | Starlight Mining Company | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Glophouse Labs LLC | |
 | Sears: The Sky Frontier | $5.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $539 (exactly $539) | Acoma Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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