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Should I ship a Steampunk Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Steampunk
Only 8 developers shipped a Steampunk Tower Defense 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, Castle Of Alchemists, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×443 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 23 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $629 (exactly $629) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $164k (exactly $164,318) |
| Top 5% | $278k (exactly $277,915) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Steampunk
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Tower Defense
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 56,839 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 23 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
They Are Billions 2019 · $42M 
Deathtrap 2015 · $1.1M 
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II 2014 · $879k 
Marfusha:Sentinel Girls 2021 · $747k 
Dream Engines: Nomad Cities 2024 · $497k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | They Are Billions | older | $29.99 | 46,223 85% | 1.4M | $42M (exactly $41,586,833) | Numantian Games |
| | Deathtrap | older | $19.99 | 1,858 84% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | NeocoreGames |
| | The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II | older | $14.99 | 1,954 70% | 59k | $879k (exactly $878,714) | NeocoreGames |
| | Marfusha:Sentinel Girls | older | $7.99 | 3,116 93% | 93k | $747k (exactly $746,905) | hinyari9 |
| | Dream Engines: Nomad Cities | older | $29.99 | 552 73% | 17k | $497k (exactly $496,634) | Suncrash |
 | Tower Wars | older | $7.99 | 1,204 71% | 36k | $289k (exactly $288,599) | SuperVillain Studios |
 | Castle Of Alchemists | $14.99 | 618 80% | 19k | $278k (exactly $277,915) | Team Machiavelli | |
 | Prime World: Defenders | older | $9.99 | 729 78% | 22k | $218k (exactly $218,481) | Nival |
 | Grit and Valor - 1949 | $19.99 | 274 75% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $164,318) | Milky Tea Studios | |
 | Steampunk Tower 2 | older | $7.99 | 311 72% | 9.3k | $75k (exactly $74,547) | DreamGate |
 | HEXSTORM: Tears of Arcadia | $8.99 | 56 75% | 1.7k | $15k (exactly $15,103) | Tearevo | |
 | Tilescape Defense | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Kahvigames | |
 | Train Trek | · EA | $14.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $899 (exactly $899) | Aixceptional |
 | Robugs | $6.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | Marcin Rodzon | |
 | Blowing Off Steam | $5.00 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Lombard Games | |
 | EverDark | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | HyperStellar Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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