Do I ship it?

Games › Party-Based RPG › Party-Based RPG + Simulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Simulation Party-Based RPG?

Party-Based RPG + Simulation

Of 76 developers who shipped a Simulation 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.. 144 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $9.5k, ×15 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $920k, ×1481 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 144 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 15.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 144 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party-Based RPG + Simulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 76
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $12k → $6.5k → $6.7k → $10k → $8.9k → $3.4k (still earning) → $18k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party-Based RPG + Simulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 76
Bottom 30% $748 (exactly $748)
Median $9.5k (exactly $9,524)
Top 25% $58k (exactly $58,455)
Top 5% $930k (exactly $929,824)
Developers, 2 yr 76
Released games 218
Announced 144
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 45% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Simulation
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, Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Idler
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 28,423 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $750, median $9.5k, 1 in 4 over $58k, 1 in 20 over $920k.

3 in 10 developers made under $750. 8 in 10 of the 41 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 47 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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 Tactics Ogre: Reborn 2022 · $6.1M Digimon World: Next Order 2023 · $4.2M Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator 2026 · $3.8M Keep Driving 2025 · $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
Tactics Ogre: Reborn older $49.99 4,049 72% 121k $6.1M (exactly $6,072,285) Square Enix
Digimon World: Next Order older $59.99 2,331 80% 70k $4.2M (exactly $4,195,101) HYDE, Inc.
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
Keep Driving $17.99 6,188 93% 186k $3.3M (exactly $3,339,664) YCJY Games
TaleSpire · EA older $24.99 4,391 89% 132k $3.3M (exactly $3,291,933) Bouncyrock Entertainment
Rune Factory 5 older $39.99 1,940 76% 58k $2.3M (exactly $2,327,418) Marvelous Inc.
Dead Age older $14.99 4,407 83% 132k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) Silent Dreams
Duel Corp. · EA $24.99 1,251 71% 38k $938k (exactly $937,875) Dreameffect Entertainment
Multiverse Loot Hunter $11.99 2,585 80% 78k $930k (exactly $929,824) 游戏养家工作室
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Kabuto Park $4.99 4,329 99% 130k $648k (exactly $648,051) Doot
FLAM EVAW $9.99 1,378 95% 41k $413k (exactly $412,987) 北京万合瑞晟文化传媒有限公司
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Master Healer Kale with useless party $4.99 1,879 95% 56k $281k (exactly $281,286) Evrac Studio
Loot Loop $4.99 1,701 93% 51k $255k (exactly $254,640) BitBrew

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