Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Grid-Based Movement game?
Grid-Based Movement + Dark Fantasy
Of 49 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 134 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×222 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 134 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,619) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $32,346) |
| Top 5% | $139k (exactly $139,241) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 49 |
| Released games | 119 |
| Announced | 134 |
| 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 down 75% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Dungeon Crawler, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.49 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Retro
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.49 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 3,629 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 7 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
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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 |
| | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
| | Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch | $24.99 | 1,293 81% | 39k | $969k (exactly $969,362) | Ocean Drive Studio, Inc. | |
| | FIGHT KNIGHT | older | $19.99 | 1,547 91% | 46k | $928k (exactly $927,736) | Team Sorcerobe |
| | Vaporum | older | $19.99 | 998 84% | 30k | $599k (exactly $598,501) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
| | King Arthur: Legion IX | older | $19.99 | 774 72% | 23k | $464k (exactly $464,168) | NeocoreGames |
| | Wizardry 8 | older | $9.99 | 1,080 89% | 32k | $324k (exactly $323,676) | Sir-Tech Canada |
| | Archaelund | · EA older | $24.99 | 417 84% | 13k | $313k (exactly $312,625) | 4 Dimension Games |
| | THYSIASTERY | $17.49 | 309 80% | 9.3k | $162k (exactly $162,132) | DIRGA | |
| | Vaporum: Lockdown | older | $17.99 | 292 83% | 8.8k | $158k (exactly $157,592) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
| | Path of the Abyss | $6.99 | 664 92% | 20k | $139k (exactly $139,241) | Suzuki Suzuzou | |
| | Veterum | $19.99 | 204 85% | 6.1k | $122k (exactly $122,339) | Crasleen Games | |
| | Tower of Mask | $10.99 | 357 95% | 11k | $118k (exactly $117,703) | Papertip Studio | |
| | Master of Piece | · EA | $14.99 | 197 86% | 5.9k | $89k (exactly $88,591) | I M GAME, I M fine |
| | Dragon Ruins II | $9.99 | 209 87% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,637) | Graverobber Foundation | |
| | Guards II: Chaos in Hell | $15.99 | 125 96% | 3.8k | $60k (exactly $59,962) | Battlecruiser Games | |
| | Dverghold | · EA | $16.99 | 108 95% | 3.2k | $55k (exactly $55,048) | Team Sorgarn |
| | Cyclopean: The Great Abyss | $9.99 | 163 89% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,851) | Schmidt Workshops |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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