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Should I ship a Word Game Tactical game?
Tactical + Word Game
Of 23 developers who shipped a Word Game Tactical 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.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 12 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,970) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,939) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 up 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Tactical, Word Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 4,030 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Tactical with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Football (American)Strong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + TypingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Farming SimFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PuzzleFair
Comparable games
DEATH NOTE Killer Within 2024 · $697k 
小小侠客模拟器 2025 · $99k 
スペルトナエル 2024 · $93k 
MORSE 2025 · $52k 
Beyond Words 2026 · $46k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
| | 小小侠客模拟器 | $2.99 | 1,103 86% | 33k | $99k (exactly $98,939) | 小小游戏 | |
| | スペルトナエル | older | $8.99 | 344 97% | 10k | $93k (exactly $92,777) | おまど |
| | MORSE | $13.99 | 124 93% | 3.7k | $52k (exactly $52,043) | ALJO Games | |
| | Beyond Words | $14.99 | 102 84% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | MindFuel Games | |
 | Гвалт | $7.99 | 151 93% | 4.5k | $36k (exactly $36,195) | maxter | |
 | CrossCraze | older | $17.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $29k (exactly $29,144) | ORT Software |
 | Socialism Simulator | older | $3.99 | 240 95% | 7.2k | $29k (exactly $28,728) | Sempiternal Rain |
 | Tomb of the Bloodletter | $7.99 | 100 88% | 3.0k | $24k (exactly $23,970) | Ethan's Secretions | |
 | OMG Words | $9.99 | 72 79% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,578) | Dave | |
 | Watchword | $13.99 | 33 90% | 990 | $14k (exactly $13,850) | Big Quail Games | |
 | Dicey Words | $4.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | _Taralis | |
 | Words Of Power | $15.00 | 5 80% | 150 | $2.3k (exactly $2,250) | Tsuperion |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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