Games › Turn-Based › Turn-Based + Exploration
Should I ship an Exploration Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Exploration
Of 41 developers who shipped an Exploration 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.. 77 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $17k, ×27 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $5.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3209 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 77 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
|---|---|
| Median | $17k (exactly $17,243) |
| Top 25% | $129k (exactly $128,614) |
| Top 5% | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 41 |
| Released games | 277 |
| Announced | 77 |
| 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 60% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based, Exploration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Combat, Strategy
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 19,871 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $5.4k. 6 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
OMORI 2020 · $48M 
Wartales 2023 · $34M 
Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ 2014 · $17M 
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin 2021 · $14M 
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance 2024 · $14M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | OMORI | older | $19.99 | 79,836 97% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,877,649) | OMOCAT, LLC |
| | Wartales | older | $34.99 | 32,118 86% | 964k | $34M (exactly $33,714,265) | Shiro Games |
| | Sid Meier's Civilization®: Beyond Earth™ | older | $39.99 | 14,047 61% | 421k | $17M (exactly $16,852,186) | Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linu… (Firaxis Games, Aspyr (Mac), Aspyr (Linux)) |
| | Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin | older | $39.99 | 11,845 82% | 355k | $14M (exactly $14,210,446) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | older | $59.99 | 7,858 91% | 236k | $14M (exactly $14,142,043) | ATLUS |
 | Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden | older | $34.99 | 13,305 89% | 399k | $14M (exactly $13,966,258) | The Bearded Ladies |
 | FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE | older | $49.99 | 8,679 88% | 260k | $13M (exactly $13,015,896) | Square Enix |
 | ENDLESS Legend™ | older | $29.99 | 14,413 83% | 432k | $13M (exactly $12,967,376) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
 | Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection | $69.99 | 5,605 77% | 168k | $12M (exactly $11,768,818) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
 | Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire | older | $19.99 | 14,659 87% | 440k | $8.8M (exactly $8,791,002) | Obsidian Entertainment |
 | Esoteric Ebb | $24.99 | 8,719 95% | 262k | $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) | Christoffer Bodegård | |
 | Aethermancer | · EA | $25.99 | 2,585 91% | 78k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) | moi rai games |
 | Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout DX | $39.99 | 257 76% | 7.7k | $308k (exactly $308,323) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
 | Sandwalkers | $19.99 | 490 73% | 15k | $294k (exactly $293,853) | Goblinz Studio | |
 | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
 | NationWar2:Chronicle | $16.99 | 378 78% | 11k | $193k (exactly $192,667) | Yiming | |
 | Day of the Shell | $14.99 | 382 68% | 11k | $172k (exactly $171,785) | Duper Games | |
 | THYSIASTERY | $17.49 | 309 80% | 9.3k | $162k (exactly $162,132) | DIRGA | |
 | Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy DX | $39.99 | 110 85% | 3.3k | $132k (exactly $131,967) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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