Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Dungeon Crawler

Of 461 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Action-Adventure 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.. 870 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×1279 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 870 games are announced against 252 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 870 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 461
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $1.9k → $776 → $1.4k → $1.2k → $1.6k → $599 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 461
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $750 (exactly $750)
Top 25% $9.0k (exactly $8,982)
Top 5% $803k (exactly $803,432)
Developers, 2 yr 461
Released games 1,162
Announced 870
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 30% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Action-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
Action-Adventure, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 240,024 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $750, 1 in 4 over $8.9k, 1 in 20 over $800k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 240 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 870 games are announced against 252 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
Noita older $19.99 81,149 95% 2.4M $49M (exactly $48,665,055) Nolla Games
Escape the Backrooms $9.99 137,315 90% 4.1M $41M (exactly $41,153,306) Fancy Games, Blackbird Interactive
AI LIMIT $34.99 22,833 92% 685k $24M (exactly $23,967,800) Sense Games
Wayfinder $24.99 25,104 60% 753k $19M (exactly $18,820,469) Airship Syndicate
Neon Abyss older $31.49 19,709 86% 591k $19M (exactly $18,619,092) Veewo Games
Mistfall Hunter $24.99 16,045 53% 481k $12M (exactly $12,028,936) Bellring Games
Children of Morta older $21.99 18,213 88% 546k $12M (exactly $12,015,116) Dead Mage
Death's Door older $19.99 19,330 93% 580k $12M (exactly $11,592,201) Acid Nerve
Minecraft Dungeons older $19.99 17,941 90% 538k $11M (exactly $10,759,218) Mojang Studios, ‪Double Eleven
SULFUR · EA $24.99 9,641 87% 289k $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) Perfect Random
Diablo II: Resurrected – Infernal Edition $39.99 5,855 86% 176k $7.0M (exactly $7,024,244) Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
The Slormancer $19.99 6,926 81% 208k $4.2M (exactly $4,153,522) Slormite Studios
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault $29.99 3,146 80% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) Digital Sun
Cinderia · EA $17.99 4,763 88% 143k $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) MyACG Studio
MIMESIS · EA $9.99 8,396 84% 252k $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) ReLU Games, Inc.

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