Do I ship it?

Games › PvE › PvE + Tabletop

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvE Tabletop game?

PvE + Tabletop

Of 116 developers who shipped a PvE Tabletop 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.. 198 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 198 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is down 45% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 198 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvE + Tabletop
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 116
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.8k → $4.3k → $600 → $748 → $1.4k → $179 → $418 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvE + Tabletop: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 116
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $359 (exactly $359)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,800)
Top 5% $131k (exactly $130,571)
Developers, 2 yr 116
Released games 273
Announced 198
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $5.00

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 45% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvE
effort 6 / 10 · low · online co-op against AI still needs the whole netcode stack
Tabletop
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
PvE, Tabletop; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Card Game
Price point
$5.00 typical · top 25% priced $20.00 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $20.00 or above; the middle game at $5.00.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 5,034 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $360, 1 in 4 over $1.8k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 198 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

PvE with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair17 devs · median $2.4k · 23 announced
  2. + IdlerFair161 devs · median $1.0k · 229 announced
  3. + MinigamesFair9 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  4. + TypingFair23 devs · median $719 · 27 announced
  5. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds44 devs · median $163k · 97 announced
  6. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds50 devs · median $85k · 120 announced
  7. + HeistPoor odds18 devs · median $30k · 50 announced
  8. + MMORPGPoor odds34 devs · median $25k · 248 announced
  9. + Real-TimePoor odds10 devs · median $20k · 24 announced
  10. + NavalPoor odds21 devs · median $11k · 59 announced
  11. + SpaceshipsPoor odds16 devs · median $6.3k · 20 announced
  12. + MarsPoor odds10 devs · median $6.3k · 13 announced

All 243 pairs on the PvE page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Sunderfolk 2025 · $2.8M Dune: Imperium 2024 · $2.6M Talisman: Digital Classic Edition 2014 · $1.2M The Troop 2023 · $979k Tales & Tactics 2024 · $937k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sunderfolk $49.99 1,890 93% 57k $2.8M (exactly $2,834,433) Secret Door
Dune: Imperium older $22.99 3,806 94% 114k $2.6M (exactly $2,624,998) Dire Wolf
Talisman: Digital Classic Edition older $6.99 5,557 80% 167k $1.2M (exactly $1,165,303) Nomad Games
The Troop older $39.99 816 83% 24k $979k (exactly $978,955) Giant Flame
Tales & Tactics older $17.99 1,737 80% 52k $937k (exactly $937,459) Table 9 Studio
Hex of Steel older $24.99 863 95% 26k $647k (exactly $646,991) War Frogs Studio
Ark Nova $22.99 825 94% 25k $569k (exactly $569,002) Dire Wolf
Terrinoth®: Heroes of Descent $34.99 441 75% 13k $463k (exactly $462,918) Artefacts Studio, Shine Group
Clank! $22.99 542 92% 16k $374k (exactly $373,817) Dire Wolf
Mahokenshi - The Samurai Deckbuilder older $24.99 464 77% 14k $348k (exactly $347,861) Game Source Studio
DOKAPON! Sword of Fury $24.99 354 85% 11k $265k (exactly $265,394) Sting
Strategos · EA $24.99 233 85% 7.0k $175k (exactly $174,680) Strategos Games
Passant: A Chess Roguelike $11.99 363 79% 11k $131k (exactly $130,571) Marc Makes Games
Cascadia $14.99 210 98% 6.3k $94k (exactly $94,437) Dire Wolf
Draw Steel · EA $19.99 67 98% 2.0k $40k (exactly $40,180) Verisim, MCDM
Burger Bots Inc. $7.99 109 91% 3.3k $26k (exactly $26,127) Normogames

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