Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a 2D Platformer Tactical game?

Tactical + 2D Platformer

Of 125 developers who shipped a 2D Platformer Tactical 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.. 120 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 67 developers shipped in the last year and 120 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 120 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 125
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $899 → $449 → $60 → $300 → $119 → $90 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 125
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $17,498)
Developers, 2 yr 125
Released games 354
Announced 120
Effort 6 / 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 down 40% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Tactical
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
Tactical, 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Turn-Based Tactics
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 4,347 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $120, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 68 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 67 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Door Kickers: Action Squad 2018 · $3.7M Strike Force Heroes 2023 · $2.5M PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY 2025 · $1.9M Knock-knock 2013 · $481k METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake 2023 · $465k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Door Kickers: Action Squad older $13.99 8,778 95% 263k $3.7M (exactly $3,684,127) PixelShard, KillHouse Games
Strike Force Heroes older $19.99 4,193 79% 126k $2.5M (exactly $2,514,542) Sky9 Games
PATAPON 1+2 REPLAY $29.99 2,091 83% 63k $1.9M (exactly $1,881,273) SAS CO.,LTD.
Knock-knock older $9.99 1,604 88% 48k $481k (exactly $480,719) Ice-Pick Lodge
METAL GEAR & METAL GEAR 2: Solid Snake older $19.99 775 83% 23k $465k (exactly $464,767) KONAMI
The Three Kingdoms: The Tales of Jian An $17.99 690 88% 21k $372k (exactly $372,393) 开翼网络
大千世界 older $3.99 2,289 86% 69k $274k (exactly $273,993) 滑稽工作室
Lakeview Cabin 2 older $13.99 542 96% 16k $227k (exactly $227,477) Roope Tamminen
METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.1 BONUS CONTENT older $59.99 125 63% 3.8k $225k (exactly $224,962) KONAMI
Mr. Sun's Hatbox older $14.99 412 85% 12k $185k (exactly $185,276) Kenny Sun
小小侠客模拟器 $2.99 1,103 86% 33k $99k (exactly $98,939) 小小游戏
Eutolant Saga $15.99 114 92% 3.4k $55k (exactly $54,686) Oistar Games
Heian City Story $8.99 164 85% 4.9k $44k (exactly $44,231) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Fritz Chess 20 Steam Edition $54.99 15 46% 450 $25k (exactly $24,746) ChessBase GmbH
Bauhaus Bonk $7.99 73 100% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) Spoonful Games
Football Fictional World Simulator $14.99 24 75% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) keigo0221
Herogue $14.99 22 95% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) 巴豆肥工作室
The Purple Forest Ritual $5.99 51 62% 1.5k $9.2k (exactly $9,165) Topyu_u

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