Do I ship it?

GamesTurn-BasedTurn-Based + Dark Fantasy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Turn-Based game?

Turn-Based + Dark Fantasy

Of 51 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy Turn-Based 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.. 69 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $930k, ×1495 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 69 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 24.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 69 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based + Dark Fantasy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $297k → $88k → $15k → $20k → $21k → $11k → $27k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based + Dark Fantasy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $2.9k (exactly $2,936)
Median $15k (exactly $15,290)
Top 25% $65k (exactly $65,224)
Top 5% $939k (exactly $939,130)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 198
Announced 69
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Turn-Based
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
Turn-Based; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 9,558 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.0k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $65k, 1 in 20 over $930k.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.0k. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 69 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds13 devs · median $60k · 10 announced
  2. + DragonsStrong odds7 devs · median $53k · 7 announced
  3. + Hack and SlashStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  4. + SandboxFair20 devs · median $224k · 19 announced
  5. + HorrorFair16 devs · median $32k · 18 announced
  6. + CraftingFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  8. + Perma DeathFair49 devs · median $10k · 57 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  10. + ChessFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  11. + Tower DefensePoor odds9 devs · median $294k · 7 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds16 devs · median $193k · 26 announced

All 110 pairs on the Turn-Based page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Total War: WARHAMMER II older $59.99 85,134 92% 2.6M $153M (exactly $153,215,660) CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (M… (CREATIVE ASSEMBLY, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
Darkest Dungeon® older $24.99 140,790 91% 4.2M $106M (exactly $105,550,263) Red Hook Studios
Darkest Dungeon® II older $39.99 24,249 74% 727k $29M (exactly $29,091,525) Red Hook Studios
Stoneshard · EA older $24.99 34,149 74% 1.0M $26M (exactly $25,601,505) Ink Stains Games
Gloomhaven older $34.99 13,628 82% 409k $14M (exactly $14,305,312) Flaming Fowl Studios, Saber Interactive
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden older $34.99 13,305 89% 399k $14M (exactly $13,966,258) The Bearded Ladies
The Last Spell older $24.99 13,260 91% 398k $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) Ishtar Games
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales older $19.99 15,665 89% 470k $9.4M (exactly $9,394,300) CD PROJEKT RED
King Arthur: Knight's Tale older $44.99 6,722 83% 202k $9.1M (exactly $9,072,683) NeocoreGames
Tyranny older $29.99 9,877 87% 296k $8.9M (exactly $8,886,337) Obsidian Entertainment
Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II $39.99 2,088 53% 63k $2.5M (exactly $2,504,974) Bulwark Studios
Aethermancer · EA $25.99 2,585 91% 78k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) moi rai games
SpellRogue $19.99 1,566 86% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Guidelight Games
Death Howl $19.99 1,301 92% 39k $780k (exactly $780,210) The Outer Zone
Blightstone · EA $15.99 482 76% 14k $231k (exactly $231,215) Unfinished Pixel
Dead Weight $12.99 575 82% 17k $224k (exactly $224,078) Klukva Games
THYSIASTERY $17.49 309 80% 9.3k $162k (exactly $162,132) DIRGA
Moonsigil Atlas $19.99 261 81% 7.8k $157k (exactly $156,522) Snake Tower Games
Glorious Companions $19.99 182 61% 5.5k $109k (exactly $109,145) Ancient Forge
Hungry Horrors · EA $14.99 209 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $93,987) Clumsy Bear Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.