Do I ship it?

GamesAction-AdventureAction-Adventure + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Grid-Based Movement

Of 29 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $15k, ×24 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 44 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 44 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $358 → $267 → $2.6k → $898 → $1.5k → $599 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 5% $15k (exactly $15,290)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 78
Announced 44
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 10% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Grid-Based Movement
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
Action-Adventure, Grid-Based Movement; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.95 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Dark
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.95 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 272 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $15k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Vaporum older $19.99 998 84% 30k $599k (exactly $598,501) Fatbot Games, s. r. o.
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
The Keep older $14.99 102 79% 3.1k $46k (exactly $45,869) CINEMAX GAMES
REPOSE $7.99 148 93% 4.4k $35k (exactly $35,476) Bozó Attila Bertold
Ringlorn Saga older $7.99 73 98% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) Graverobber Foundation
Eye of the Commando · EA $14.99 34 100% 1.0k $15k (exactly $15,290) Adventurepro Games LLC
Dreamsweeper older $9.99 38 76% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,389) Etherlight, Oatmello
Ruzar - The Dark Stones older $17.99 21 76% 630 $11k (exactly $11,334) Hammer Glass Studio Inc.
Dungeons Of The Deep older $14.99 22 59% 660 $9.9k (exactly $9,893) Gray Mantis
Get To The Gate older $19.99 15 86% 450 $9.0k (exactly $8,996) Maximan
Slayer : the Demon Haunted World $12.99 19 68% 570 $7.4k (exactly $7,404) PLAY Mephistowaltz
Trial of Ariah $11.95 12 91% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,302) 30 Minute Games
Starbug Troopers : The 4 horseflies of the apocalypse $8.99 13 84% 390 $3.5k (exactly $3,506) Big Loot Games
PETRACAL $5.99 15 100% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) FeralSquid
Flawless Darkness $10.99 8 100% 240 $2.6k (exactly $2,638) Oldice
Cursed Soul $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) DakeCraft
Maple Blade $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Trav Root
Pixelance $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Fad Games

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