Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Turn-Based Strategy

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Turn-Based Strategy?

Loot + Turn-Based Strategy

Of 86 developers who shipped a Loot Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 97 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $6.3k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $960. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 97 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 97 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Turn-Based Strategy
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 86
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.4k → $29k → $9.7k → $5.4k → $3.1k → $41k → $9.6k (still earning) → $898 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Turn-Based Strategy: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 86
Bottom 30% $955 (exactly $955)
Median $6.3k (exactly $6,294)
Top 25% $72k (exactly $71,705)
Top 5% $561k (exactly $561,226)
Developers, 2 yr 86
Released games 179
Announced 97
Effort 5 / 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 up 200% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Turn-Based Strategy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Combat, RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 72% positive over 21,070 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $960, median $6.3k, 1 in 4 over $71k, 1 in 20 over $560k.

3 in 10 developers made under $960. 6 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  6. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  7. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  8. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  10. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  11. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced
  12. + ArcadeFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Jagged Alliance 3 older $44.99 10,882 89% 326k $15M (exactly $14,687,435) Haemimont Games
龙胤立志传 $19.99 7,153 77% 215k $4.3M (exactly $4,289,654) TPP Studio
Inkbound older $29.99 3,592 86% 108k $3.2M (exactly $3,231,722) Shiny Shoe
NORSE: Oath of Blood $34.99 2,535 56% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,660,990) Arctic Hazard
Stolen Realm older $19.99 3,470 84% 104k $2.1M (exactly $2,080,959) Burst2Flame Games
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
再刷一把 PlayAgain older $8.99 4,416 67% 132k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,995) 滑稽工作室
Megaloot older $9.99 3,808 71% 114k $1.1M (exactly $1,141,258) axilirate
再刷一把2:金色传说 $9.99 2,748 44% 82k $824k (exactly $823,576) 滑稽工作室
Slice & Dice older $8.99 2,484 96% 75k $670k (exactly $669,935) Tann
Lootbound $14.99 1,248 77% 37k $561k (exactly $561,226) ArtDock
Knightica $14.99 1,136 74% 34k $511k (exactly $510,859) Mad Mango Games
The Use of Life $19.99 764 90% 23k $458k (exactly $458,171) だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games
Overlooting $9.99 1,405 81% 42k $421k (exactly $421,078) Posing Possums
Sandwalkers $19.99 490 73% 15k $294k (exactly $293,853) Goblinz Studio
Fantasy Idle Dungeon $9.99 736 70% 22k $221k (exactly $220,579) Leaves Games

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