Games › Exploration › Exploration + Tabletop
Should I ship an Exploration Tabletop game?
Exploration + Tabletop
Of 55 developers who shipped an Exploration Tabletop 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.. 88 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×657 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 88 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,346) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,878) |
| Top 5% | $312k (exactly $312,092) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 55 |
| Released games | 186 |
| Announced | 88 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 95% 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.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Tabletop
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Tabletop; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Board Game
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 13,373 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 88 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Esoteric Ebb 2026 · $6.5M 
Citizen Sleeper 2022 · $5.0M 
TaleSpire 2021 · EA · $3.3M 
BOOK OF HOURS 2023 · $3.1M 
Curious Expedition 2016 · $1.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Esoteric Ebb | $24.99 | 8,719 95% | 262k | $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) | Christoffer Bodegård | |
| | Citizen Sleeper | older | $19.99 | 8,271 92% | 248k | $5.0M (exactly $4,960,119) | Jump Over The Age |
| | TaleSpire | · EA older | $24.99 | 4,391 89% | 132k | $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) | Bouncyrock Entertainment |
| | BOOK OF HOURS | older | $24.99 | 4,129 89% | 124k | $3.1M (exactly $3,095,511) | Weather Factory |
| | Curious Expedition | older | $14.99 | 3,951 91% | 119k | $1.8M (exactly $1,776,765) | Maschinen-Mensch |
 | Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | $24.99 | 2,358 91% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) | Jump Over The Age | |
 | Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness | older | $29.99 | 924 74% | 28k | $831k (exactly $831,323) | GrapeOcean Technologies |
 | Munchkin Digital | older | $14.99 | 1,352 76% | 41k | $608k (exactly $607,994) | Dire Wolf |
 | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
 | Nexus 5X | older | $14.99 | 884 90% | 27k | $398k (exactly $397,535) | Whatboy Games |
 | Card Cultivation | $14.99 | 694 70% | 21k | $312k (exactly $312,092) | DarkIndex | |
 | Stack to Ascension | $12.99 | 331 54% | 9.9k | $129k (exactly $128,991) | Stack to Ascension | |
 | Marisa of Liartop Mountain | $14.99 | 286 84% | 8.6k | $129k (exactly $128,614) | Alliance Arts, UnknownX | |
 | Duskpunk | $19.99 | 171 91% | 5.1k | $103k (exactly $102,549) | Clockwork Bird, James Patton | |
 | Factory Planner | · EA | $7.99 | 385 70% | 12k | $92k (exactly $92,284) | Lebleby Games |
 | Dark Quest 4 | $19.99 | 136 75% | 4.1k | $82k (exactly $81,559) | Brain Seal Ltd | |
 | Celestial Return | $14.99 | 140 85% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,958) | Metaphor Games | |
 | Eyes of Hellfire | · EA | $9.99 | 153 70% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $45,854) | Gambrinous |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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