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Should I ship a Dragon Management game?
Management + Dragons
Only 17 developers shipped a Dragon Management 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, Mind Over Magic, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 40 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×4.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $3.2M, ×5150 the market median. Revenue is up 230% on the market; 40 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $79k (exactly $79,292) |
| Top 5% | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 230% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Dragons
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Character Customization, Simulation, Action
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 6,137 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 7 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mind Over Magic | $24.99 | 4,314 86% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,234,206) | Sparkypants | |
| | Driftland: The Magic Revival | older | $19.99 | 1,439 73% | 43k | $863k (exactly $862,968) | Star Drifters |
| | Aground | older | $14.99 | 1,823 94% | 55k | $820k (exactly $819,803) | Fancy Fish Games, SnöBox Studio |
| | Huaxia: Warring States | · EA | $19.99 | 701 61% | 21k | $420k (exactly $420,390) | 秦川汉渚 |
| | Dragon Song Tavern: Cozy & Adventurous | $19.90 | 274 71% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $163,578) | Etherous Games Limited | |
| | Little Dragons Café | older | $59.99 | 77 63% | 2.3k | $139k (exactly $138,577) | Aksys Games, TOYBOX lnc., Picola Inc. |
| | Mage and Monsters | older | $4.99 | 903 89% | 27k | $135k (exactly $135,179) | Lasse Zacho Malver |
| | Mage and Monsters II | $8.99 | 372 82% | 11k | $100k (exactly $100,328) | Lasse Zacho Malver | |
| | Gargadusa's Tower | $8.99 | 294 90% | 8.8k | $79k (exactly $79,292) | The Math Team | |
| | No King No Kingdom | older | $14.99 | 126 84% | 3.8k | $57k (exactly $56,662) | Fullmetal Developer |
| | My Infamous Dungeon | $14.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | BoxFox Studios | |
| | Bathhouse Creatures | $4.99 | 62 98% | 1.9k | $9.3k (exactly $9,281) | Sleepy Rocket | |
| | Scale Mail | $3.99 | 34 100% | 1.0k | $4.1k (exactly $4,070) | Jam Jar Game Studio | |
| | Dragon Inn | $9.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Nordexa | |
| | Deck Vs Doom | $5.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Danial Rashidi |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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