Games › 2D Platformer › 2D Platformer + Cats
Should I ship a Cat 2D Platformer?
2D Platformer + Cats
Of 109 developers who shipped a Cat 2D Platformer 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.. 144 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $36k, ×76 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 144 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $1.6k (exactly $1,612) |
| Top 5% | $36k (exactly $36,234) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 109 |
| Released games | 312 |
| Announced | 144 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Cats
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- 2D Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Platformer, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,228 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
2D Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + VampiresFair
- + MechsFair
- + PinballFair
- + WesternFair
- + CRPGFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + MiningFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
Comparable games
BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M 
Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2021 · $6.5M 
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 2023 · $1.5M 
CATO: Buttered Cat 2024 · $921k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
| | Night in the Woods | older | $19.99 | 17,760 94% | 533k | $11M (exactly $10,650,672) | Infinite Fall |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl | older | $49.99 | 4,311 75% | 129k | $6.5M (exactly $6,465,207) | Ludosity, Fair Play Labs |
| | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 | older | $49.99 | 1,013 81% | 30k | $1.5M (exactly $1,519,196) | Fair Play Labs |
| | CATO: Buttered Cat | older | $10.99 | 2,794 98% | 84k | $921k (exactly $921,182) | Team Woll |
 | Kemono Teatime | $12.99 | 1,617 95% | 49k | $630k (exactly $630,145) | Studio Lalala, Kotoneiro, WHO YOU | |
 | Portal Dungeon | older | $14.99 | 995 88% | 30k | $447k (exactly $447,452) | Dusk Dog Studio |
 | Nyaruru Fishy Fight | older | $7.99 | 1,702 89% | 51k | $408k (exactly $407,969) | 赤瞳大白猫, 猫尾巴制作组 |
 | Miss Neko 3 | older | $2.99 | 4,470 92% | 134k | $401k (exactly $400,959) | Double W |
 | The Purring Quest | older | $9.99 | 1,205 81% | 36k | $361k (exactly $361,138) | Valhalla Cats |
 | Twin Shot Deluxe | $9.99 | 1,167 95% | 35k | $350k (exactly $349,750) | Nitrome Limited | |
 | Fatal Claw | $24.99 | 428 89% | 13k | $321k (exactly $320,872) | NDEV GAMES | |
 | Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection | $19.99 | 216 84% | 6.5k | $130k (exactly $129,535) | Limited Run Games | |
 | Dungeons And Cat | $9.99 | 193 88% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,842) | CatBellUnion | |
 | With Your Coworker | $0.99 | 1,220 82% | 37k | $36k (exactly $36,234) | 搖滾冰塊 | |
 | Gastova: The Witches of Arkana | $14.99 | 59 71% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $26,532) | MechWolf Productions | |
 | Little Adventurer Treasure Hunt | $3.99 | 185 100% | 5.6k | $22k (exactly $22,144) | BIG EYES TATA | |
 | Electrogical | $7.99 | 87 93% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $20,854) | kinjo | |
 | Sunfluffs | · EA | $11.99 | 56 100% | 1.7k | $20k (exactly $20,143) | Nuclear Strawberry |
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.