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Should I ship a Tower Defense Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Tower Defense
Only 9 developers shipped a Tower Defense Turn-Based game 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, Deck of Haunts, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 7 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $290k, ×468 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $3.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 7 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) |
|---|---|
| Median | $294k (exactly $293,597) |
| Top 25% | $511k (exactly $510,859) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 7 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $12.99 |
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 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based, Tower Defense
- Price point
- $12.99 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 $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 22,697 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $3.3k. 7 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + 4XPoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
Comparable games
The Last Spell 2023 · $9.9M 
Overdungeon 2019 · $1.3M 
Deck of Haunts 2025 · $723k 
Gnomes 2025 · $527k 
Knightica 2025 · $511k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Last Spell | older | $24.99 | 13,260 91% | 398k | $9.9M (exactly $9,941,022) | Ishtar Games |
| | Overdungeon | older | $14.99 | 2,854 79% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,444) | Pocketpair |
| | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
| | Gnomes | $9.99 | 1,757 94% | 53k | $527k (exactly $526,573) | DYSTOPIAN | |
| | Knightica | $14.99 | 1,136 74% | 34k | $511k (exactly $510,859) | Mad Mango Games | |
 | ORX | · EA older | $19.99 | 636 68% | 19k | $381k (exactly $381,409) | johnbell |
 | Epic Auto Towers | · EA | $14.99 | 768 70% | 23k | $345k (exactly $345,370) | Aleksandr Golovkin |
 | MINOS | $17.99 | 544 88% | 16k | $294k (exactly $293,597) | Artificer | |
 | Repel The Rifts | · EA | $12.99 | 347 85% | 10k | $135k (exactly $135,226) | RefinedBearGames |
 | Defend the Rook | older | $17.99 | 189 73% | 5.7k | $102k (exactly $102,003) | One Up Plus |
 | Treasure's Mine! | $4.99 | 22 100% | 660 | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) | FatFishGame | |
 | Spirit Route | · EA | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Curious Forge |
 | DeadZone Outpost | $2.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $90 (exactly $90) | Uberbax Gaming |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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