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Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Post-apocalyptic
Of 85 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic Tower Defense 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.. 135 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×265 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 135 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,851) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,195) |
| Top 5% | $167k (exactly $166,717) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 85 |
| Released games | 193 |
| Announced | 135 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 110% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Post-apocalyptic
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Survival, Base Building
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 6,619 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 53 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
7 Days to Die 2024 · $369M 
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition 2009 · $21M 
Dome Keeper 2022 · $10M 
The Last Spell 2023 · $9.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 7 Days to Die | older | $44.99 | 273,589 87% | 8.2M | $369M (exactly $369,263,073) | The Fun Pimps |
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition | older | $4.99 | 143,506 97% | 4.3M | $21M (exactly $21,482,848) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
| | Dome Keeper | older | $17.99 | 18,976 92% | 569k | $10M (exactly $10,241,347) | Bippinbits |
| | The Last Spell | older | $24.99 | 13,260 91% | 398k | $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) | Ishtar Games |
 | Outpost: Infinity Siege | older | $24.99 | 11,636 65% | 349k | $8.7M (exactly $8,723,509) | Team Ranger |
 | Cliff Empire | older | $17.99 | 4,194 87% | 126k | $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) | Lion's Shade |
 | Until We Die | older | $16.99 | 4,221 62% | 127k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,444) | Pixeye Games |
 | EverSiege: Untold Ages | $19.99 | 1,906 68% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,143,028) | Tindalos Interactive | |
 | The Last Stand Legacy Collection | older | $9.99 | 2,614 89% | 78k | $783k (exactly $783,416) | Con Artist Games |
 | The Spotter: Dig or Die | $12.99 | 1,792 84% | 54k | $698k (exactly $698,342) | Puppyroar Games | |
 | CleanFall | · EA | $19.99 | 492 92% | 15k | $295k (exactly $295,052) | Humanyoyo |
 | Zombie Cure Lab | $24.99 | 393 65% | 12k | $295k (exactly $294,632) | Thera Bytes GmbH | |
 | The Ember Guardian | $19.99 | 278 82% | 8.3k | $167k (exactly $166,717) | Ratbit Games | |
 | Defender's Quest 2: Mists of Ruin | $19.99 | 242 61% | 7.3k | $145k (exactly $145,127) | Level Up Labs, LLC | |
 | Rift Riff | $12.99 | 367 94% | 11k | $143k (exactly $143,020) | Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs K… (Adriaan de Jongh, Sim Kaart, Matthijs Koster, Franz LaZerte, Professional Panda) | |
 | Swarm Bunker: Lust Defense | $9.99 | 386 88% | 12k | $116k (exactly $115,684) | 001Studio-NSFW | |
 | Keep Her Safe | · EA | $9.99 | 382 97% | 11k | $114k (exactly $114,485) | Gugu Studio |
 | After Long Night | $9.99 | 381 72% | 11k | $114k (exactly $114,186) | 疯狗工作室 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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