Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Mystery
Only 12 developers shipped a Mystery Grand Strategy 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, Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×0.7 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $24k, ×16 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $25k (exactly $24,588) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 115% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Mystery
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 67% positive over 141 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition 2020 · $83k 
Kingdom of Wreck Business 2023 · $38k 
Waiting For The Raven 2020 · $27k 
Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire 2024 · $25k 
Shadows Behind the Throne 2 2021 · $11k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fury of Dracula: Digital Edition | older | $12.99 | 213 72% | 6.4k | $83k (exactly $83,006) | Nomad Games |
| | Kingdom of Wreck Business | older | $9.99 | 127 31% | 3.8k | $38k (exactly $38,062) | WarZoneLab |
| | Waiting For The Raven | older | $14.99 | 61 77% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Musclebird |
| | Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire | $19.99 | 41 70% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | Schell Games | |
| | Shadows Behind the Throne 2 | older | $7.99 | 47 76% | 1.4k | $11k (exactly $11,266) | Bobby Two Hands |
 | Fantasy Empires | older | $9.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $9.9k (exactly $9,890) | Silicon Knights |
 | The HELL | · EA | $9.99 | 30 73% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | METROPOLICE |
 | Heroic Aegisio: Origins | $7.99 | 27 77% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | Vview Games | |
 | Climber Girl | $7.99 | 19 36% | 570 | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) | AlterLab Development | |
 | Star Haul Tycoon | $9.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | sugames | |
 | Murder Mystery Stories | $11.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | Cyblux Games | |
 | Divinity Chess | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Divinity Sky | |
 | Only for Gamers | $4.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Merhaba Yazılım | |
 | The Da Vinci Cryptex 5 | $3.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $239 (exactly $239) | XSGames | |
 | SKIBIDI TOILET: Operation Terror | $2.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $90 (exactly $90) | Luke Grayson |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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