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Should I ship a Word Game Turn-Based Combat game?
Turn-Based Combat + Word Game
Of 23 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 31 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×253 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,648) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,970) |
| Top 5% | $120k (exactly $120,180) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Word Game
- effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Combat, Word Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 3,318 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + RomeFair
- + CookingFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DiceFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SolitaireFair
Comparable games
灵墟 2023 · $312k 
轮回修仙传 2025 · $162k 
Wordatro! 2025 · $120k 
The Eastern Sacrifice 2025 · $107k 
小小侠客模拟器 2025 · $99k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 灵墟 | older | $10.99 | 946 86% | 28k | $312k (exactly $311,896) | HappyTall Game |
| | 轮回修仙传 | $4.99 | 1,085 81% | 33k | $162k (exactly $162,424) | Collider Studio | |
| | Wordatro! | $9.99 | 401 85% | 12k | $120k (exactly $120,180) | Le Poulet | |
| | The Eastern Sacrifice | $9.99 | 356 55% | 11k | $107k (exactly $106,693) | 五条虾仁(5 shrimps) | |
| | 小小侠客模拟器 | $2.99 | 1,103 86% | 33k | $99k (exactly $98,939) | 小小游戏 | |
 | Throne of Monsters 怪物的王座 | $12.99 | 130 92% | 3.9k | $51k (exactly $50,661) | 雏形游戏 | |
 | WonderLang Polyglot | $39.99 | 36 80% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | bair games | |
 | Terra Alia: The Language Discovery RPG | older | $14.99 | 96 64% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | 30 Parallel |
 | Tomb of the Bloodletter | $7.99 | 100 88% | 3.0k | $24k (exactly $23,970) | Ethan's Secretions | |
 | Tower of Origin2-Worm's Nest | older | $13.99 | 49 67% | 1.5k | $21k (exactly $20,565) | Villain Role |
 | Eternal Sword Tomb | · EA | $8.99 | 68 77% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $18,340) | 阿郎 |
 | WonderLang Spanish | $24.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $15k (exactly $14,994) | bair games | |
 | WonderLang French | $24.99 | 19 84% | 570 | $14k (exactly $14,244) | bair games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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