Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Tactics › Turn-Based Tactics + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Turn-Based Tactics?

Turn-Based Tactics + Psychological

Of 34 developers who shipped a Psychological Turn-Based Tactics 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.. 40 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $420. Revenue is up 200% on the market; 40 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, 40 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Tactics + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $1.5k → $3.8k → $896 (still earning) → $600 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Tactics + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $420 (exactly $420)
Median $629 (exactly $629)
Top 25% $3.8k (exactly $3,775)
Top 5% $218k (exactly $217,764)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 58
Announced 40
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.66

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 120% 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.

Turn-Based Tactics
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 Tactics; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, Gambling
Price point
$6.66 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.66.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,312 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $630, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $210k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + TanksFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  2. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced
  3. + ProgrammingFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  4. + DiceFair47 devs · median $1.6k · 53 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 8 announced
  6. + Time ManagementFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  7. + IdlerFair47 devs · median $1.3k · 48 announced
  8. + Psychological HorrorFair55 devs · median $1.0k · 56 announced
  9. + Traditional RoguelikeFair78 devs · median $629 · 95 announced
  10. + PuzzleFair263 devs · median $598 · 308 announced
  11. + PlatformerLong shot15 devs · median $360 · 18 announced
  12. + Local MultiplayerLong shot101 devs · median $239 · 121 announced

All 189 pairs on the Turn-Based Tactics 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 The Caligula Effect 2 2022 · $676k VARLET 2025 · $218k
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
The Caligula Effect 2 older $49.99 451 91% 14k $676k (exactly $676,365) historia Inc., FURYU Corporation
VARLET $59.99 121 47% 3.6k $218k (exactly $217,764) FURYU CORPORATION
Menherarium: Deadly Dice $8.99 669 92% 20k $180k (exactly $180,429) テスカトリポカ
SIDE EFFECTS $4.99 858 83% 26k $128k (exactly $128,443) hirohun, Mr.Pootsley, Jaybooty, Lofar42
Mato Anomalies older $14.99 131 70% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Arrowiz
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
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
Roulette Heist $6.99 18 94% 540 $3.8k (exactly $3,775) DreamArk Lab
Xiaye's Doors of Magic: Lightchaser $9.99 8 87% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) 幻海空镜工作室

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