Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Combat › Turn-Based Combat + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Turn-Based Combat game?

Turn-Based Combat + Tower Defense

Of 28 developers who shipped a Tower Defense Turn-Based Combat 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.. 34 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 335% on the market; 34 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 335% on the market, 34 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Combat + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.1k → $1.6k → $179 → $599 → $2.7k → $8.4k → $449 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Combat + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $8.1k (exactly $8,095)
Top 5% $33k (exactly $33,452)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 74
Announced 34
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 335% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Turn-Based Combat
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Combat, Tower Defense; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Turn-Based Tactics, Auto Battler
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 2.5D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,365 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $840, 1 in 4 over $8.0k, 1 in 20 over $33k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaStrong odds20 devs · median $19k · 21 announced
  2. + Hack and SlashStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + RomeFair8 devs · median $16k · 13 announced
  4. + CookingFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  5. + UndergroundFair18 devs · median $4.2k · 29 announced
  6. + IdlerFair52 devs · median $4.0k · 41 announced
  7. + DiceFair49 devs · median $2.2k · 59 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair81 devs · median $1.4k · 107 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair59 devs · median $1.3k · 71 announced
  10. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $719 · 52 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair26 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  12. + RhythmPoor odds10 devs · median $86k · 16 announced

All 175 pairs on the Turn-Based Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Last Spell 2023 · $9.9M Cubic Cosmos 2026 · $367k WARCANA 2024 · $226k Variables 2 2021 · $188k Has-Been Heroes 2017 · $158k
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
Cubic Cosmos $12.99 941 92% 28k $367k (exactly $366,708) Inkstone Atelier
WARCANA older $16.99 443 62% 13k $226k (exactly $225,797) 1000 Orks
Variables 2 older $14.99 418 90% 13k $188k (exactly $187,975) Asteroid Game Studio
Has-Been Heroes older $19.99 263 78% 7.9k $158k (exactly $157,721) Frozenbyte
Defend the Rook older $17.99 189 73% 5.7k $102k (exactly $102,003) One Up Plus
Trash of the Titans · EA older $8.99 314 93% 9.4k $85k (exactly $84,686) Raccoon Tour
MechDefender - Tower Defense older $4.99 272 76% 8.2k $41k (exactly $40,718) Atomic Fabrik, Cristian Manolachi
Mini Tank Mayhem $11.99 93 88% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) Algorocks
Vambrace: Dungeon Monarch $14.99 61 70% 1.8k $27k (exactly $27,432) Dvora Studio Co. Ltd.
This Isn't Just Tower Defense $6.99 122 61% 3.7k $26k (exactly $25,583) Pri Games
Undefined Game Pack $9.99 36 94% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) Undefined
Moonlight Chess $7.99 35 77% 1.1k $8.4k (exactly $8,390) MyDreamForever
Beyond the Grove · EA $14.99 18 77% 540 $8.1k (exactly $8,095) Not a Duck
Misty Land $8.99 24 79% 720 $6.5k (exactly $6,473) Branches Games
Last Bullet $6.99 28 100% 840 $5.9k (exactly $5,872) ToxicByteGames
Kemotaku $15.99 7 100% 210 $3.4k (exactly $3,358) Kojika Games

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