Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Tactics › Turn-Based Tactics + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Turn-Based Tactics?

Turn-Based Tactics + Puzzle

Of 263 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 308 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 $90. Revenue is flat on the market; 308 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 308 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Tactics + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 263
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $898 → $1.1k → $1.5k → $629 → $599 → $599 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Tactics + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 263
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $598 (exactly $598)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 5% $104k (exactly $104,162)
Developers, 2 yr 263
Released games 789
Announced 308
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 flat on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Tactics, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 9,416 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $600, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 129 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 308 games are announced against 154 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Tactics with a different second tag, 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. + PsychologicalFair34 devs · median $629 · 40 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

Dorfromantik 2022 · $12M Into the Breach 2018 · $8.5M Tactical Breach Wizards 2024 · $6.9M 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel 2020 · $2.9M SteamWorld Heist II 2024 · $2.0M
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
5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel older $11.99 8,097 96% 243k $2.9M (exactly $2,912,491) Conor Petersen, Thunkspace, LLC
SteamWorld Heist II older $29.99 2,201 93% 66k $2.0M (exactly $1,980,240) Thunderful Development
Unity of Command II older $29.99 2,042 79% 61k $1.8M (exactly $1,837,187) 2x2 Games, Croteam
Drop Duchy $14.99 2,962 89% 89k $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) Sleepy Mill Studio
Artisan TD older $16.99 2,237 88% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,140,199) 4rtisans
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest older $24.99 1,290 82% 39k $967k (exactly $967,113) Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd.
Rogue Waters $29.99 955 75% 29k $859k (exactly $859,214) Ice Code Games
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
Titanium Court $14.99 1,094 94% 33k $492k (exactly $491,972) AP Thomson
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
Turnbound $14.99 446 78% 13k $201k (exactly $200,566) 1TK
Craftlings $19.99 311 86% 9.3k $187k (exactly $186,507) ARIANO Games GmbH

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