Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Sandbox

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Party-Based RPG Sandbox?

Party-Based RPG + Sandbox

Of 23 developers who shipped a Party-Based RPG Sandbox 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.. 71 more are announced, ×6.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $34k, ×53 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.6k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×3282 the market median. Revenue is up 6195% on the market; 71 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 53.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 6195% on the market, 71 announced, ×6.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Sandbox
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $32k → $6.7k → $10k → $121k → $938k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Sandbox: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Median $34k (exactly $33,514)
Top 25% $938k (exactly $937,875)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 64
Announced 71
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.99

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 6195% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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
Sandbox
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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, Sandbox; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Open World, Adventure, Character Customization
Price point
$14.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 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 $24.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 17,974 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.6k, median $34k, 1 in 4 over $930k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.6k. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.5 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. + BuildingPoor odds12 devs · median $32k · 37 announced
  8. + AutomationPoor odds14 devs · median $21k · 28 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds67 devs · median $19k · 76 announced
  10. + Base BuildingPoor odds19 devs · median $19k · 51 announced
  11. + IncrementalPoor odds18 devs · median $15k · 45 announced
  12. + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds46 devs · median $13k · 87 announced

All 111 pairs on the Party-Based RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Kenshi 2018 · $89M Wartales 2023 · $34M OCTOPATH TRAVELER™ 2019 · $25M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M TaleSpire 2021 · EA · $3.3M
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
Wartales older $34.99 32,118 86% 964k $34M (exactly $33,714,265) Shiro 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
TaleSpire · EA older $24.99 4,391 89% 132k $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) Bouncyrock Entertainment
Age of Reforging: The Freelands $29.99 2,291 71% 69k $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) PersonaeGame Studio
Beast Saga $20.99 2,714 80% 81k $1.7M (exactly $1,709,006) 嘉兴黑曜石(Jiaxing Obsidian)
Low Magic Age · EA older $14.99 3,342 89% 100k $1.5M (exactly $1,502,897) Low Magic Studios
Stellar Tactics $24.99 1,666 77% 50k $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) Don Wilkins
Crown and Adventure $19.99 1,693 61% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,015,292) C3D Games
Duel Corp. · EA $24.99 1,251 71% 38k $938k (exactly $937,875) Dreameffect Entertainment
Valorborn · EA $24.99 492 60% 15k $369k (exactly $368,852) Laps Games
NITRO GEN OMEGA $29.99 398 83% 12k $358k (exactly $358,081) DESTINYbit
Ascent of Ashes · EA $14.99 268 68% 8.0k $121k (exactly $120,520) Vivid Storm Interactive
Glorious Companions $19.99 182 61% 5.5k $109k (exactly $109,145) Ancient Forge

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