Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Psychological

Of 33 developers who shipped a Psychological Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 44 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $210. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 44 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 44 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $538 → $1.5k → $718 → $896 (still earning) → $600 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $36k (exactly $35,764)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 61
Announced 44
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 200% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Strategy; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 1,903 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $600, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $35k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Digimon Survive 2022 · $5.6M 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel 2020 · $2.9M Death Howl 2025 · $780k MONARK 2022 · $376k Project Planet - Earth vs Humanity 2023 · $271k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Digimon Survive older $59.99 3,124 78% 94k $5.6M (exactly $5,622,263) HYDE, Inc.
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel older $11.99 8,097 96% 243k $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC
Death Howl $19.99 1,301 92% 39k $780k (exactly $780,210) The Outer Zone
MONARK older $59.99 209 72% 6.3k $376k (exactly $376,137) FURYU Corporation
Project Planet - Earth vs Humanity older $24.99 361 78% 11k $271k (exactly $270,642) Fifth Harbour Studios
Dragon Spirits 2 older $13.99 137 84% 4.1k $57k (exactly $57,499) FHNBHJ
Bonesaw $6.66 179 89% 5.4k $36k (exactly $35,764) Blood Pact Studios
Dice Tavern: Farkle Roguelike $9.99 112 90% 3.4k $34k (exactly $33,566) Cavi Studio
Dreamcards $9.99 82 98% 2.5k $25k (exactly $24,575) Soneka Games
ARSONATE $2.99 158 87% 4.7k $14k (exactly $14,173) Nash
Paracom $10.99 21 90% 630 $6.9k (exactly $6,924) Steel Widow Klan
Graphite $8.99 25 100% 750 $6.7k (exactly $6,742) RipRed
Xiaye's Doors of Magic: Lightchaser $9.99 8 87% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) 幻海空镜工作室
Beguile $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) coeda
缠罗深梦 $6.99 7 100% 210 $1.5k (exactly $1,468) EveRecord

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