Games › Turn-Based Combat › Turn-Based Combat + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Turn-Based Combat game?
Turn-Based Combat + Psychological
Of 24 developers who shipped a Psychological Turn-Based Combat 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.. 58 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $350k, ×749 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 58 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,726) |
| Top 25% | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) |
| Top 5% | $356k (exactly $355,861) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 51 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Combat
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Combat; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 2,825 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Combat with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + RomeFair
- + CookingFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DiceFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SolitaireFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | All Quiet in the Trenches | · EA older | $24.99 | 921 90% | 28k | $690k (exactly $690,474) | Totally Not Aliens |
| | MONARK | older | $59.99 | 209 72% | 6.3k | $376k (exactly $376,137) | FURYU Corporation |
| | Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken | $19.99 | 595 94% | 18k | $357k (exactly $356,822) | scriptwelder | |
| | The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots | · EA | $6.99 | 1,697 72% | 51k | $356k (exactly $355,861) | 0x0Real Studio |
| | BLUE REFLECTION Quartet | $49.99 | 140 57% | 4.2k | $210k (exactly $209,958) | KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. | |
| | Star Knightess Aura | $24.99 | 211 86% | 6.3k | $158k (exactly $158,187) | AuraGamedev | |
| | Dragon Spirits 2 | older | $13.99 | 137 84% | 4.1k | $57k (exactly $57,499) | FHNBHJ |
| | An Outcry | older | $9.99 | 102 92% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,569) | Quinn K. |
| | Legend of Hand | older | $7.99 | 92 91% | 2.8k | $22k (exactly $22,052) | Cloak and Dagger Games |
| | Card Detective | older | $3.99 | 145 73% | 4.4k | $17k (exactly $17,356) | 神探饭店制作组 |
| | Who's Hungry? | $4.99 | 60 100% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | Daniel Fernández | |
| | Chainsaw | $4.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) | ikiru997 | |
| | Graphite | $8.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) | RipRed | |
| | Isla Hearts | $9.99 | 21 76% | 630 | $6.3k (exactly $6,294) | Isla Systems | |
| | Little One | $10.00 | 18 100% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,400) | Tristan O. | |
| | Muffles' Life Sentence | $11.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $4.3k (exactly $4,316) | BossyPino |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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