Do I ship it?

GamesDestructionDestruction + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Destruction game?

Destruction + 2D Platformer

Of 41 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Destruction 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.. 54 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $33k, ×53 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 54 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 54 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Destruction + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $180 → $4.3k → $3.9k → $2.7k → $748 → $449 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Destruction + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,695)
Top 5% $33k (exactly $33,289)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 111
Announced 54
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 65% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Destruction
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Destruction, 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Physics
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Retro
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 4,908 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $720, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $33k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Space SimFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + ModernFair26 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  3. + God GameFair19 devs · median $899 · 20 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair9 devs · median $719 · 14 announced
  5. + Hack and SlashPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  6. + HistoricalPoor odds15 devs · median $26k · 22 announced
  7. + CapitalismPoor odds17 devs · median $15k · 46 announced
  8. + Online Co-OpPoor odds37 devs · median $13k · 102 announced
  9. + Co-opPoor odds50 devs · median $11k · 113 announced
  10. + Automobile SimPoor odds22 devs · median $9.0k · 44 announced
  11. + ManagementPoor odds36 devs · median $6.1k · 129 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds22 devs · median $6.0k · 46 announced

All 139 pairs on the Destruction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ANTONBLAST $19.99 3,943 95% 118k $2.4M (exactly $2,364,617) Summitsphere
Actraiser Renaissance older $29.99 708 74% 21k $637k (exactly $636,988) Square Enix, Sonic Powered
Bionic Bay $19.99 750 84% 23k $450k (exactly $449,775) Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy
Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider older $16.99 489 85% 15k $249k (exactly $249,243) JoyMasher
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms older $29.99 255 71% 7.7k $229k (exactly $229,424) Arc System Works
RIVE older $14.99 468 83% 14k $210k (exactly $210,460) Two Tribes
Tasty Planet Forever older $12.99 352 87% 11k $137k (exactly $137,174) Dingo Games
Apocalyptic cat older $29.99 101 84% 3.0k $91k (exactly $90,870) Galactic Geckon
Astro Duel 2 older $19.99 59 100% 1.8k $35k (exactly $35,382) Rusty Moyher
River City Saga: Three Kingdoms Next $29.99 37 62% 1.1k $33k (exactly $33,289) Arc System Works
Vindefiant $14.99 31 80% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Blakey Games
Castle of Vania $10.99 35 48% 1.1k $12k (exactly $11,540) Succubus Factory
Galactic Thunderdome $9.99 35 100% 1.1k $10k (exactly $10,490) Pansimula
LURRUNA - The Island of Towering Automatons $9.99 25 100% 750 $7.5k (exactly $7,492) PD_CGT
Bumper Blitz TD $14.99 15 86% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Ragnarok Studios
Crash Puzzle Hammer-San $9.99 13 100% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) SUCCESS Corp.
Knockout Battle $4.99 24 70% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Dani Tikka Masala, Alvin Leon Dobric, A… (Dani Tikka Masala, Alvin Leon Dobric, Anton Ploetner)

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