Do I ship it?

GamesAdventureAdventure + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Adventure game?

Adventure + 2D Platformer

Of 1,675 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Adventure 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.. 2,620 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×238 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 2,620 games are announced against 904 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 2,620 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Adventure + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,675
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $748 → $599 → $599 → $748 → $718 → $600 → $599 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Adventure + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,675
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,549)
Top 5% $113k (exactly $113,209)
Developers, 2 yr 1,675
Released games 5,719
Announced 2,620
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 25% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
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
Adventure, 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Platformer, Action, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 79,140 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.5k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 1,008 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,620 games are announced against 904 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SamuraiFair13 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  2. + FMVFair144 devs · median $39k · 151 announced
  3. + PinballFair11 devs · median $8.1k · 17 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair40 devs · median $6.3k · 50 announced
  5. + Escape RoomFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  6. + Mini GolfFair12 devs · median $2.2k · 11 announced
  7. + SportsFair228 devs · median $1.5k · 224 announced
  8. + GolfFair18 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair384 devs · median $1.2k · 420 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  11. + Traditional RoguelikeFair89 devs · median $449 · 119 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced

All 279 pairs on the Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Celeste older $19.99 132,072 97% 4.0M $79M (exactly $79,203,578) Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Ga… (Maddy Makes Games Inc., Extremely OK Games, Ltd.)
INSIDE older $24.99 69,791 97% 2.1M $52M (exactly $52,322,313) Playdead
Pizza Tower older $19.99 66,350 98% 2.0M $40M (exactly $39,790,095) Tour De Pizza
Rain World older $24.99 46,871 94% 1.4M $35M (exactly $35,139,189) Videocult
Sonic Generations Collection older $51.79 20,304 93% 609k $32M (exactly $31,546,325) Devil's Details
BattleBlock Theater® older $14.99 55,793 97% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,090,112) The Behemoth
SANABI older $14.99 41,700 97% 1.3M $19M (exactly $18,752,490) WONDER POTION
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS $49.99 12,178 96% 365k $18M (exactly $18,263,347) Sonic Team
BlazBlue Entropy Effect older $19.99 30,410 94% 912k $18M (exactly $18,236,877) 91Act
Neva $19.99 9,343 93% 280k $5.6M (exactly $5,602,997) Nomada Studio
REPLACED $19.99 9,130 84% 274k $5.5M (exactly $5,475,261) Sad Cat Studios
UFO 50 $24.99 7,134 94% 214k $5.3M (exactly $5,348,360) Mossmouth
Mina the Hollower $19.99 7,562 88% 227k $4.5M (exactly $4,534,931) Yacht Club Games
Shelldiver $4.99 16,806 98% 504k $2.5M (exactly $2,515,858) Gagonfe
The Plucky Squire $29.99 2,795 84% 84k $2.5M (exactly $2,514,662) All Possible Futures
Threefold Recital $14.99 5,117 98% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,115) Everscape Games
Öoo $9.99 6,575 99% 197k $2.0M (exactly $1,970,528) NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuy… (NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi)
NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound $24.99 2,500 92% 75k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,250) The Game Kitchen

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