Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Life Sim

Only 11 developers shipped a Life Sim Party-Based RPG 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, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×5.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $8.9k against a market of $630. 23 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 14.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 2015% on the market, 23 announced, ×5.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.5k → $1.1M → $11k → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $2.4k (exactly $2,399)
Median $8.9k (exactly $8,902)
Top 25% $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572)
Top 5% $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 31
Announced 23
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $17.99

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 2015% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Party-Based RPG, Life Sim
Price point
$17.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 9 games average 84% positive over 11,683 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.4k, median $8.9k, 1 in 4 over $1.0M, 1 in 20 over $5.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.4k. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair24 devs · median $18k · 29 announced
  2. + Point & ClickFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  3. + 2D PlatformerFair55 devs · median $599 · 42 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair15 devs · median $479 · 16 announced
  5. + Martial ArtsPoor odds5 devs · median $230k · 16 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $49k · 25 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds23 devs · median $34k · 71 announced
  8. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  9. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  11. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  12. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma 2025 · $5.3M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M Chinese Online Game 2024 · $2.0M Bloomtown: A Different Story 2024 · $1.1M Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) 2023 · EA · $192k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma $59.99 2,947 88% 88k $5.3M (exactly $5,303,716) Marvelous Inc.
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
Chinese Online Game older $9.99 6,610 82% 198k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,017) 648工作室
Bloomtown: A Different Story $24.99 1,428 85% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572) Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games
Korea Dynasty (조선메타실록) · EA older $23.99 267 72% 8.0k $192k (exactly $192,160) Happy Daram Inc.
Dungeon Dreams 2 older $19.99 209 90% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) DDreams Games
K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut $19.99 175 53% 5.3k $105k (exactly $104,947) Wisageni Studio
Uncharted Ocean older $4.99 563 70% 17k $84k (exactly $84,281) HiRabbitgame
My Mad Scientist Roommate Turned Me Into Her Personal Robotic Battle Maiden?!? older $29.99 32 90% 960 $29k (exactly $28,790) Lached Up Games
心动满屋 older $3.99 218 75% 6.5k $26k (exactly $26,095) 成都萌创科技有限公司
Animal Simulator $8.99 39 30% 1.2k $11k (exactly $10,518) Imperian Online - Core
群島物語 - 實習鍊金術士的 90 天之旅 $10.99 27 92% 810 $8.9k (exactly $8,902) 矓矓矓, 耶黑XDD
中年失业模拟器2-When a man lose his job 2 $5.99 43 60% 1.3k $7.7k (exactly $7,727) Kwing works
Honoiro no Jikou 穗色时光 $19.99 4 75% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,399) Shanghai Yaxian Huizhi Technology Co.,… (Shanghai Yaxian Huizhi Technology Co., Ltd.)
FYGameCompany $7.99 1 0% 30 $240 (exactly $240) Foryun
Pocket Spouse $8.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Seth Fasnacht

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.