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Should I ship a Demon Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Demons
Of 43 developers who shipped a Demon 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $94k, ×198 the market median. Revenue is up 920% on the market; 53 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $94,106) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 89 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 up 920% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Demons
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Tower Defense; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Base Building, Building
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 1,252 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. Nearly all of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense 2020 · $5.9M 
Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k 
Night is Coming 2025 · EA · $290k 
Yokai Art: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons 2022 · $237k 
Exodus Borealis 2021 · $146k | 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 |
| | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
| | Night is Coming | · EA | $24.99 | 387 59% | 12k | $290k (exactly $290,134) | Wild Forest Studio |
| | Yokai Art: Night Parade of One Hundred Demons | older | $6.99 | 1,132 89% | 34k | $237k (exactly $237,380) | Secret Labo |
| | Exodus Borealis | older | $19.99 | 243 91% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $145,727) | Smug Marmot Studios |
 | Gnomes Garden | older | $14.99 | 262 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $117,821) | Workroom7, Creobit |
 | Spirits of the Hellements - TD | older | $11.99 | 326 92% | 9.8k | $117k (exactly $117,262) | Hippo Rider Games |
 | Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain | older | $24.99 | 138 73% | 4.1k | $103k (exactly $103,459) | Karin Project |
 | Demon Castle Story | $12.99 | 257 77% | 7.7k | $100k (exactly $100,153) | Kairosoft Co.,Ltd | |
 | Yokai Art 2: Tales of the Nine-Tails | $9.99 | 314 75% | 9.4k | $94k (exactly $94,106) | Secret Labo | |
 | My Infamous Dungeon | $14.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | BoxFox Studios | |
 | Fortifend | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | Side Crumb | |
 | Flow Of War | $12.99 | 40 85% | 1.2k | $16k (exactly $15,588) | Rongcon Games | |
 | Lichgate: Tower Survivor | $6.99 | 57 75% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,953) | Sun Lion Games | |
 | HauntedManager | $7.39 | 30 100% | 900 | $6.7k (exactly $6,651) | 魔女の脳 | |
 | Defense&Making | · EA | $13.99 | 13 76% | 390 | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) | 3DAYS |
 | The Demon King's Daughters | $2.99 | 52 76% | 1.6k | $4.7k (exactly $4,664) | maruhani |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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