Do I ship it?

GamesGrid-Based MovementGrid-Based Movement + Dark Fantasy

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 134 announced, ×4.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Dark Fantasy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 49
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $3.8k → $5.4k → $4.5k → $3.6k → $4.8k → $836 (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Dark Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 49
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.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.