Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Management Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Management

Of 47 developers who shipped a Management Party-Based RPG 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.. 83 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1333 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 83 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 83 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 47
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $12k → $55k → $719 → $63k → $8.2k → $10k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 47
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,491)
Top 25% $105k (exactly $104,947)
Top 5% $837k (exactly $837,415)
Developers, 2 yr 47
Released games 89
Announced 83
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 90% on the market, supply 95% 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.

Party-Based RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Management
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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, Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Character Customization
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 16,883 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $100k, 1 in 20 over $830k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 5 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Kenshi 2018 · $89M OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ 2019 · $25M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M The Last Flame 2025 · $1.6M Our Adventurer Guild 2024 · $1.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Kenshi older $29.99 98,451 95% 3.0M $89M (exactly $88,576,365) Lo-Fi Games
OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ older $59.99 13,923 85% 418k $25M (exactly $25,057,223) Square Enix, ACQUIRE Corp.
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
The Last Flame $19.99 2,744 85% 82k $1.6M (exactly $1,645,577) Hotloop
Our Adventurer Guild older $14.99 3,392 95% 102k $1.5M (exactly $1,525,382) GreenGuy
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Goblin Stone older $24.99 735 52% 22k $551k (exactly $551,030) Orc Chop Games
Spirit Valley $14.99 1,203 89% 36k $541k (exactly $540,989) Otterside Games
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Valorborn · EA $24.99 492 60% 15k $369k (exactly $368,852) Laps Games
Bloodgrounds $19.99 561 77% 17k $336k (exactly $336,432) Exordium Games
Loot Loop $4.99 1,701 93% 51k $255k (exactly $254,640) BitBrew
Escape The Mad Empire · EA $17.99 406 88% 12k $219k (exactly $219,118) XperimentalZ Games
Ascent of Ashes · EA $14.99 268 68% 8.0k $121k (exactly $120,520) Vivid Storm Interactive

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