Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Zombies
Should I ship a Zombie Turn-Based Strategy?
Turn-Based Strategy + Zombies
Of 27 developers who shipped a Zombie Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 45 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×3.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $680k, ×1091 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 45 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.0k (exactly $2,035) |
| Top 25% | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) |
| Top 5% | $685k (exactly $685,454) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 97 |
| Announced | 45 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 90% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based Strategy; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Tactics, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 5,069 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based Strategy with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + WuxiaFair
- + Cold WarFair
- + RomeFair
- + LootFair
- + MiningFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + TanksFair
- + SokobanFair
- + Top-Down ShooterFair
- + SpaceFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | South Park™: The Stick of Truth™ | older | $29.99 | 60,770 97% | 1.8M | $55M (exactly $54,674,769) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Terminus: Zombie Survivors | older | $19.99 | 4,340 94% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,602,698) | Longplay Studios |
| | Dead Age | older | $14.99 | 4,407 83% | 132k | $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) | Silent Dreams |
| | Deadly Days: Roadtrip | · EA | $14.99 | 2,855 87% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) | Pixelsplit |
| | Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord | older | $34.99 | 1,209 77% | 36k | $1.3M (exactly $1,269,087) | Digital Eclipse |
| | Dead State: Reanimated | older | $19.99 | 2,100 73% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,370) | DoubleBear Productions |
| | Pathway | older | $15.99 | 1,908 76% | 57k | $915k (exactly $915,268) | Robotality |
| | Warhammer Quest (Classic) | older | $29.99 | 897 71% | 27k | $807k (exactly $807,031) | Rodeo Games, Twistplay |
| | Urban Strife | $34.99 | 653 69% | 20k | $685k (exactly $685,454) | White Pond Games | |
| | Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville | older | $14.99 | 1,486 86% | 45k | $668k (exactly $668,254) | Northway Games, Sarah Northway |
| | Vultures - Scavengers of Death | $17.99 | 532 81% | 16k | $287k (exactly $287,120) | Team Vultures | |
| | Dead Grid | $12.99 | 504 93% | 15k | $196k (exactly $196,409) | Atom Void | |
| | MEMOLITH: Forsaken by Light | $19.99 | 220 76% | 6.6k | $132k (exactly $131,934) | Black Anchor | |
| | Dead Season | $19.99 | 182 69% | 5.5k | $109k (exactly $109,145) | Snail Bite | |
| | Giggle Night: Trixie's Trial | · EA | $19.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $9.6k (exactly $9,595) | Anaximanes Entertainment |
| | Breath of Death VII: The Beginning: Reanimated | $4.99 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $7.9k (exactly $7,934) | Shadow Layer Games LLC | |
| | Necromancer For A Week | $7.99 | 27 96% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | QuietPenguinGaming | |
| | Zombie Epoch:Deck Apocalypse | $7.99 | 27 62% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | HY Indie Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.