Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Turn-Based Strategy?
Turn-Based Strategy + Puzzle
Of 223 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 311 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×128 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 311 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $809 (exactly $809) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) |
| Top 5% | $80k (exactly $80,496) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 223 |
| Released games | 680 |
| Announced | 311 |
| 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 down 15% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Strategy, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 7,988 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 111 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 311 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + Cold WarFair
- + RomeFair
- + LootFair
- + MiningFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + TanksFair
- + SokobanFair
- + Top-Down ShooterFair
- + SpaceFair
Comparable games
Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M 
Into the Breach 2018 · $8.5M 
Tactical Breach Wizards 2024 · $6.9M 
Terra Nil 2023 · $6.0M 
West of Loathing 2017 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dorfromantik | older | $13.99 | 27,441 96% | 823k | $12M (exactly $11,516,988) | Toukana Interactive |
| | Into the Breach | older | $14.99 | 19,000 94% | 570k | $8.5M (exactly $8,544,300) | Subset Games |
| | Tactical Breach Wizards | older | $19.99 | 11,485 97% | 345k | $6.9M (exactly $6,887,554) | Suspicious Developments |
| | Terra Nil | older | $24.99 | 8,035 87% | 241k | $6.0M (exactly $6,023,840) | Free Lives, Clockwork Acorn |
| | West of Loathing | older | $10.99 | 9,716 97% | 291k | $3.2M (exactly $3,203,365) | Asymmetric |
 | 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel | older | $11.99 | 8,097 96% | 243k | $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) | Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC |
 | The Legend of Bum-Bo | older | $14.99 | 5,654 80% | 170k | $2.5M (exactly $2,542,604) | Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Rid… (Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon) |
 | ISLANDERS | older | $4.99 | 16,104 94% | 483k | $2.4M (exactly $2,410,769) | Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Stu… (Coatsink, GrizzlyGames, Stage Clear Studios) |
 | Niche - a genetics survival game | older | $17.99 | 4,356 88% | 131k | $2.4M (exactly $2,350,933) | Stray Fawn Studio |
 | Root | older | $14.99 | 5,049 90% | 151k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,535) | Dire Wolf |
 | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
 | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler | |
 | Demonschool | $24.99 | 984 91% | 30k | $738k (exactly $737,705) | Necrosoft Games, Mystic Systems | |
 | Ledgerbound | $29.99 | 562 92% | 17k | $506k (exactly $505,631) | OmniMegaSuperCorp | |
 | Knights in Tight Spaces | $19.99 | 831 69% | 25k | $498k (exactly $498,351) | Ground Shatter | |
 | ISLANDERS: New Shores | $9.99 | 1,230 96% | 37k | $369k (exactly $368,631) | The Station | |
 | Dawnfolk | $14.99 | 664 94% | 20k | $299k (exactly $298,601) | Darenn Keller | |
 | The Conquest of Go | $14.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $261k (exactly $261,276) | Wolfey Studios | |
 | Preserve | $12.49 | 690 92% | 21k | $259k (exactly $258,543) | Bitmap Galaxy | |
 | Treasure 'n Trio | $14.99 | 242 100% | 7.3k | $109k (exactly $108,827) | TNT |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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