Games › Tabletop › Tabletop + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Tabletop game?
Tabletop + Mystery
Of 32 developers who shipped a Mystery Tabletop 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.. 59 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $110; 1 in 20 cleared $7.6k, ×16 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 59 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $101 (exactly $101) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,429) |
| Top 5% | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 121 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 140% on the market, supply 335% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Tabletop; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 229 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $110. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tabletop with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + BuildingFair
- + CRPGFair
- + RTSFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + DragonsFair
- + MahjongFair
- + WargameFair
- + SpaceFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + HorrorFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
Comparable games
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest 2020 · $362k 
Sovereign Syndicate 2024 · $344k 
The Test: Final Revelation 2020 · $316k 
The Solitaire Conspiracy 2020 · $267k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest | older | $14.99 | 805 83% | 24k | $362k (exactly $362,008) | Different Tales |
| | Sovereign Syndicate | older | $19.99 | 573 79% | 17k | $344k (exactly $343,628) | Crimson Herring Studios |
| | The Test: Final Revelation | older | $1.99 | 5,286 97% | 159k | $316k (exactly $315,574) | Randumb Studios |
| | The Solitaire Conspiracy | older | $11.99 | 742 89% | 22k | $267k (exactly $266,897) | Bithell Games |
 | Wintermoor Tactics Club | older | $14.99 | 538 87% | 16k | $242k (exactly $241,939) | EVC Games |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 5 | older | $9.99 | 775 96% | 23k | $232k (exactly $232,268) | Notovia |
 | Clue/Cluedo | older | $14.99 | 489 89% | 15k | $220k (exactly $219,903) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 4 | older | $4.99 | 787 96% | 24k | $118k (exactly $117,814) | Notovia |
 | Mysterium: A Psychic Clue Game | older | $6.99 | 526 76% | 16k | $110k (exactly $110,302) | Twin Sails Interactive, Playsoft |
 | 3DMurderMystery TheAshenYou | $18.99 | 38 73% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $21,649) | ぐだぐだぶとん | |
 | Dungeon Tells | $7.99 | 32 75% | 960 | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) | Ace Benoff | |
 | Neverwood | · EA | $14.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | BellaInTheGame |
 | Broke Signal Badlands: A World of Desert Adventure | $14.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Forward Instinct | |
 | Escape Tales: The Awakening | $7.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $4.1k (exactly $4,075) | Bluekey Games | |
 | YEKO | · EA | $3.99 | 33 57% | 990 | $4.0k (exactly $3,950) | BEGA Game Studio |
 | Roulette Heist | $6.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) | DreamArk Lab | |
 | Detective 26 | $7.62 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.4k (exactly $3,429) | TestOneDev | |
 | Provenance Unknown: Six Discs | $4.00 | 20 90% | 600 | $2.4k (exactly $2,400) | Master Suite | |
 | XIII - A Final Game of Tarot With Death | $1.99 | 34 91% | 1.0k | $2.0k (exactly $2,030) | Indigo Dreams |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.