Games › Action › Action + Grid-Based Movement
Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Action game?
Action + Grid-Based Movement
Of 109 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Action 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.. 157 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $35k, ×56 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 157 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
| Top 5% | $35k (exactly $35,476) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 109 |
| Released games | 315 |
| Announced | 157 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 25% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Grid-Based Movement; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 19,399 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. Nearly all of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors 2026 · $5.6M 
Persona 5 Tactica 2023 · $2.7M 
Hard West 2 2022 · $2.4M 
Legend of Grimrock 2 2014 · $2.2M 
Legend of Grimrock 2012 · $2.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors | $9.99 | 18,587 96% | 558k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) | poncle, Nosebleed Interactive | |
| | Persona 5 Tactica | older | $59.99 | 1,526 74% | 46k | $2.7M (exactly $2,746,342) | ATLUS |
| | Hard West 2 | older | $29.99 | 2,717 80% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) | Ice Code Games |
| | Legend of Grimrock 2 | older | $23.99 | 3,065 90% | 92k | $2.2M (exactly $2,205,880) | Almost Human Games |
| | Legend of Grimrock | older | $14.99 | 4,844 93% | 145k | $2.2M (exactly $2,178,347) | Almost Human Games |
 | Zanki Zero: Last Beginning | older | $59.99 | 650 77% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,805) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | Classified: France '44 | older | $39.99 | 844 70% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,012,547) | Absolutely Games |
 | FIGHT KNIGHT | older | $19.99 | 1,547 91% | 46k | $928k (exactly $927,736) | Team Sorcerobe |
 | Operencia: The Stolen Sun | older | $29.99 | 537 76% | 16k | $483k (exactly $483,139) | Zen Studios |
 | Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 518 91% | 16k | $311k (exactly $310,645) | VINE, Yacht Club Games |
 | Touhou Spell Carnival | $49.99 | 49 77% | 1.5k | $73k (exactly $73,485) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING | |
 | GRIDbeat! | $19.99 | 93 100% | 2.8k | $56k (exactly $55,772) | Ridiculous Games | |
 | 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces | · EA | $12.99 | 115 84% | 3.5k | $45k (exactly $44,816) | Ground Shatter |
 | Toads of the Bayou | $9.99 | 137 72% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | La Grange | |
 | REPOSE | $7.99 | 148 93% | 4.4k | $35k (exactly $35,476) | Bozó Attila Bertold | |
 | KAZ | $6.99 | 143 94% | 4.3k | $30k (exactly $29,987) | Kalinarm | |
 | Dragonero | $19.99 | 38 68% | 1.1k | $23k (exactly $22,789) | Operaludica | |
 | I, Robot | $14.99 | 38 92% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $17,089) | Llamasoft Ltd. | |
 | WORMHOLE | $9.99 | 51 98% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | Pocket Moon Games, ThanaThan |
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.