# 5D Chess With Multiverse Time Travel

> ResidualPlay case file: an overlooked Steam game still earning residual revenue. Estimates carry a ±30-50% error range per title.

- Steam appid: 1349230
- Developer: Conor Petersen
- Released: 2020 · Genre: Indie · List price: $11.99
- Deal grade: A (A = dormant with >=$5k/mo opportunity, D = low signal)
- Est. net residual revenue: $2.3k to $3.5k per month (mid $2.9k)
- Opportunity score: $6.1k/month at x2.10 dormancy multiplier
- Est. lifetime owners: 242.2k · Est. lifetime net revenue: $624.2k
- Review sentiment: 97% positive across 8956 reviews (8073 from Steam purchases)
- Review velocity: 45.3 reviews/month (6-month average)

## Why it's flagged

- Developer silent for 4.9 years
- Studio inactive: no public activity across 1 tracked titles
- Last build shipped 4.9 years ago
- Store page localized in only 1 language(s)
- Last discounted 0 months ago, 7 sales in the last 12 months
- Proven demand elasticity: x1.5 review velocity during past deep sales

## Where a gross dollar goes (monthly, at current velocity)

| Stage | USD/month |
|---|---|
| Gross storefront sales | $5.3k |
| After VAT / sales tax (-13% blended) | $4.6k |
| After refunds (-9.5% median) | $4.2k |
| Net to developer (after Steam 30%) | $2.9k |

## Monthly review counts, oldest to newest (24 months)

70, 71, 67, 82, 108, 104, 147, 92, 51, 63, 59, 89, 49, 53, 52, 37, 65, 94, 54, 45, 39, 53, 40, 41

## Estimated acquisition range

$70.1k to $140.2k (2-4x the trailing net annuity of $35.1k/year). Same error range applies.

## Analyst notes (AI-assisted)

A solo indie chess variant that adds two spatial dimensions and multiverse time-travel mechanics to classical chess, creating a genuinely novel 5D puzzle-strategy experience.

5D Chess has generated $624k lifetime revenue on 242k units at a 96.6% positive rate, with $2,920/mo residual income despite zero developer communication for 58 months. The game's high elasticity (1.51), recent deep discount (52% off), and 45 reviews/month suggest price-sensitive demand remains intact. For a strategic buyer, this represents either a low-risk acquisition of a self-sustaining design IP, or a publishing/revival play if multiplayer infrastructure can be stabilized and single-player content expanded.

- Most realistic play: acquisition
- Risk (tech): Multiplayer stability appears brittle; player reviews explicitly call online play 'a nightmare,' and no developer updates suggest core netcode issues remain unresolved.
- Risk (market): High elasticity (1.51) indicates strong price sensitivity; margins may erode if positioned above current $11.99 positioning or if a free-to-play competitor emerges in this novel niche.
- Risk (other): Developer radio silence for 58 months and 'ghost' studio status create unknown technical debt and potential IP transfer friction; acquisition due diligence must verify ownership chain and codebase maintainability.

What players are asking for:
- Custom board creation tools and variants
- Stable, playable online multiplayer (current state is unreliable)
- Better tutorial or AI difficulty progression for new players
- Spectator/replay tools to study complex endgames

Suggested first moves:
1. Audit the codebase and multiplayer architecture to isolate the online stability issue; fixing this alone could unlock collaborative/streaming revenue and social growth.
2. Evaluate whether modest single-player content (variant rule sets, progressive difficulty campaigns, puzzle mode) could extend engagement and justify a $12.99-14.99 price point without demand destruction.
3. Model acquisition vs. publishing partnership: if Conor Petersen retains development capacity, a co-publishing deal with live ops support may be faster to value than full acquisition; if not, clean IP acquisition at 6-12 months of residual (est. $17.5k-35k) is defensible.

Generated 2026-08-20 from public signals and player reviews. Directional, not diligence.

## Methodology

Units are estimated from Steam-purchase reviews times a release-cohort multiplier (Boxleiter method, 20-75x by year). Revenue uses an effective price (lifetime discounts and regional pricing) and nets out VAT (~13%), refunds (~9.5%) and Steam's 30% cut: roughly 55% of gross reaches the developer.

Source: https://residualplay.com/game/1349230
Citation: please cite ResidualPlay (https://residualplay.com) when using these estimates.