Do I ship it?

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

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Resource Management Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Resource Management

Of 37 developers who shipped a Resource 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.. 96 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×21 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $830k, ×1333 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 96 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 96 announced, ×4.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $58k → $25k → $6.5k → $34k → $63k → $4.8k → $42k (still earning) → $20k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $3.9k (exactly $3,896)
Median $13k (exactly $12,949)
Top 25% $81k (exactly $81,396)
Top 5% $837k (exactly $837,415)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 64
Announced 96
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 up 60% on the market, supply 85% more 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
Resource Management
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, Resource Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Auto Battler
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 13,913 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.9k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $81k, 1 in 20 over $830k.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.9k. 6 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 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

Keep Driving 2025 · $3.3M Dungeon Settlers 2026 · EA · $837k Loot of Baal 2025 · $370k Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising 2026 · $348k Shardpunk 2023 · $310k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Keep Driving $17.99 6,188 93% 186k $3.3M (exactly $3,339,664) YCJY Games
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Loot of Baal $8.99 1,372 62% 41k $370k (exactly $370,028) Gleamer Studio
Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising $9.99 1,160 77% 35k $348k (exactly $347,652) Small Mill, Small Mill
Shardpunk older $13.99 739 92% 22k $310k (exactly $310,158) Clockwork Pile
Master Healer Kale with useless party $4.99 1,879 95% 56k $281k (exactly $281,286) Evrac Studio
Legionbound $9.99 671 83% 20k $201k (exactly $201,099) Spicy Garlic Games
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
NEODUEL: Backpack Monsters $11.99 357 79% 11k $128k (exactly $128,413) dicehit, Rogue Duck Interactive
Ancient Frontier older $24.99 115 64% 3.5k $86k (exactly $86,216) Fair Weather Studios
Miseria $7.99 350 58% 11k $84k (exactly $83,895) Somnambulist Games
Underboard $14.99 181 74% 5.4k $81k (exactly $81,396) Headless

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