Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Trains

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Train RPG?

RPG + Trains

Only 6 developers shipped a Train RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Voidtrain, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $6.8k, ×11 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $7.8M, ×12483 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 18 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.9 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 18 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Trains
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 6

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for RPG + Trains: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 6
Bottom 30% $1.8k (exactly $1,798)
Median $6.8k (exactly $6,834)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,793)
Top 5% $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086)
Developers, 2 yr 6
Released games 28
Announced 18
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 400% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Trains
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
RPG
Price point
$11.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 33,218 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.8k, median $6.8k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $7.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 18 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Monster Train older $24.99 19,950 95% 599k $15M (exactly $14,956,515) Shiny Shoe
Voidtrain $29.99 8,713 73% 261k $7.8M (exactly $7,839,086) HypeTrain Digital
Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition older $24.99 2,661 84% 80k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,952) Failbetter Games
Kubifaktorium older $19.99 728 79% 22k $437k (exactly $436,582) Neomateria Games GmbH
Metro Sim Hustle older $9.99 352 75% 11k $105k (exactly $105,494) Departure Interactive
Choo Choo Survivor older $4.99 563 85% 17k $84k (exactly $84,281) GTGD
Re:Turn - One Way Trip older $11.99 132 79% 4.0k $47k (exactly $47,480) Red Ego Games
Fear Equation older $14.99 69 73% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,029) Screwfly Studios
The 18th Floor older $14.99 26 53% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) Aoga Games
ExoTrain · EA $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Harpoon Games
Station Master RPG · EA $11.99 19 78% 570 $6.8k (exactly $6,834) Telegraph Studios
Moor Rail $9.99 19 78% 570 $5.7k (exactly $5,694) PLAY Mephistowaltz
UrbanRail Metro Simulator · EA $11.99 5 100% 150 $1.8k (exactly $1,798) UrbanDeveloper
Locostation $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) Locostation

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