Do I ship it?

Games › Party Game › Party Game + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Party Game?

Party Game + Puzzle

Of 92 developers who shipped a Puzzle Party 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.. 137 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $87k, ×184 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 137 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 137 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party Game + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 92
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $229k → $718 → $2.4k → $479 → $598 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party Game + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 92
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $4.0k (exactly $3,950)
Top 5% $87k (exactly $87,381)
Developers, 2 yr 92
Released games 141
Announced 137
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 65% on the market, supply 950% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 Game
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Party Game, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Co-op, PvP
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, Funny, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,067 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $480, 1 in 4 over $3.9k, 1 in 20 over $87k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 137 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair72 devs · median $899 · 98 announced
  2. + RhythmFair11 devs · median $802 · 19 announced
  3. + DeckbuildingFair22 devs · median $719 · 30 announced
  4. + Card BattlerFair28 devs · median $449 · 35 announced
  5. + MinigamesPoor odds28 devs · median $4.0k · 66 announced
  6. + RoguelitePoor odds22 devs · median $2.7k · 68 announced
  7. + RoguelikePoor odds16 devs · median $2.7k · 51 announced
  8. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $2.4k · 45 announced
  9. + DestructionPoor odds13 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  10. + DrivingPoor odds28 devs · median $1.7k · 60 announced
  11. + SurvivalPoor odds55 devs · median $1.3k · 135 announced
  12. + HorrorPoor odds61 devs · median $1.3k · 144 announced

All 95 pairs on the Party Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes 2015 · $6.4M Tricky Towers 2016 · $5.6M Draw & Guess 2021 · $4.7M PICO PARK 2021 · $3.6M SOS OPS! 2023 · $599k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes older $14.99 14,331 97% 430k $6.4M (exactly $6,444,651) Steel Crate Games
Tricky Towers older $14.99 12,390 90% 372k $5.6M (exactly $5,571,783) WeirdBeard
Draw & Guess older $4.99 31,627 83% 949k $4.7M (exactly $4,734,562) Acureus
PICO PARK older $4.99 23,751 91% 713k $3.6M (exactly $3,555,525) TECOPARK
SOS OPS! older $4.99 4,000 83% 120k $599k (exactly $598,800) ArtDock
BOMBANANA! $7.99 2,360 96% 71k $566k (exactly $565,692) Lefto Studio
The Jackbox Party Pack 10 older $29.99 500 65% 15k $450k (exactly $449,850) Jackbox Games, Inc.
KarmaZoo older $9.99 955 88% 29k $286k (exactly $286,214) Pastagames
SUPER CRAZY RHYTHM CASTLE older $19.99 382 78% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Second Impact Games
Bogos Binted? $5.49 1,134 91% 34k $187k (exactly $186,770) underbadger
Abra-Cooking-Dabra $12.99 250 75% 7.5k $97k (exactly $97,425) Door 407
Don't Panic! It is Just Turbulence $7.99 385 72% 12k $92k (exactly $92,284) Harmonia Games
WASD : The Adventure of Tori $3.99 730 83% 22k $87k (exactly $87,381) EVNA Games
We, Junk Artists $9.99 195 95% 5.9k $58k (exactly $58,442) Perfect Day Studio
Deviation Game · EA $14.99 109 90% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) Tomo Kihara, Playfool
这是谐音梗 $2.40 567 94% 17k $41k (exactly $40,824) Find the Lamp Games
Tidy Up Together $5.99 221 80% 6.6k $40k (exactly $39,714) Malum Games
Vessel $6.99 116 17% 3.5k $24k (exactly $24,325) OJStudio

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