Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Turn-Based Strategy
Should I ship a Turn-Based Strategy Survival Horror?
Survival Horror + Turn-Based Strategy
Only 14 developers shipped a Turn-Based Strategy Survival Horror 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, Sultan's Game, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $18M, ×29918 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 31 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) |
| Top 5% | $19M (exactly $18,788,232) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 39 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 40% on the market, supply 35% 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.
- Survival Horror
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival Horror, Turn-Based Strategy; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 25,229 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival Horror with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + DrivingFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + SnowFair
- + SportsFair
- + Outbreak SimFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Spectacle fighterPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sultan's Game | $24.99 | 25,061 93% | 752k | $19M (exactly $18,788,232) | Double Cross | |
| | Dead State: Reanimated | older | $19.99 | 2,100 73% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,370) | DoubleBear Productions |
| | Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville | older | $14.99 | 1,486 86% | 45k | $668k (exactly $668,254) | Northway Games, Sarah Northway |
| | Nemesis: Lockdown | older | $24.99 | 732 68% | 22k | $549k (exactly $548,780) | InterStudio |
| | Ogre | older | $24.99 | 223 66% | 6.7k | $167k (exactly $167,183) | Auroch Digital |
| | Draft of Darkness | older | $14.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $151k (exactly $151,099) | Crawly Games |
| | Sorry We're Open | older | $7.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $34k (exactly $33,558) | oates |
| | Zafehouse Diaries 2 | older | $6.99 | 133 72% | 4.0k | $28k (exactly $27,890) | Screwfly Studios |
| | Don't Freeze: A Winter Card Survival | · EA | $17.99 | 31 74% | 930 | $17k (exactly $16,731) | YOLO35GAMES |
| | 1 Bit Survivor | older | $3.99 | 82 97% | 2.5k | $9.8k (exactly $9,815) | Chaz Acheronti |
| | Paracom | $10.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $6.9k (exactly $6,924) | Steel Widow Klan | |
| | DEMONS | $4.99 | 42 71% | 1.3k | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) | Andrew Fender, Alastair Headden | |
| | Blackjack Roulette | $2.99 | 30 83% | 900 | $2.7k (exactly $2,691) | DreamArk Lab | |
| | Silent | $2.99 | 27 44% | 810 | $2.4k (exactly $2,422) | GenemesicX | |
| | Troubled Waters | $5.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | BaleYc Studios | |
| | Grave Stakes | · EA | $2.99 | 9 44% | 270 | $807 (exactly $807) | Wild West Games |
| | Iron Graves | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Commoditech | |
| | We Don't Cry: Zombie Survival | $11.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $360 (exactly $360) | Bored Alchemist |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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