Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Tower Defense

Of 58 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 97 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×937 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 97 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 70% on the market, 97 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 58
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $713 → $1.2k → $1.3k → $899 → $599 → $1.0k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 58
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,195)
Top 5% $588k (exactly $588,306)
Developers, 2 yr 58
Released games 171
Announced 97
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 up 70% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Tower Defense
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, Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Strategy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 6,222 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $840, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $580k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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

Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense 2020 · $5.9M Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense 2014 · $4.4M Kingdom Rush Origins - Tower Defense 2018 · $3.4M HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed 2020 · $2.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cultivation Tales older $19.99 12,560 38% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) Ac Games
Kingdom Rush Vengeance - Tower Defense older $19.99 9,906 93% 297k $5.9M (exactly $5,940,628) Ironhide Game Studio
Kingdom Rush - Tower Defense older $9.99 14,584 97% 438k $4.4M (exactly $4,370,825) Ironhide Game Studio
Kingdom Rush Origins - Tower Defense older $14.99 7,466 95% 224k $3.4M (exactly $3,357,460) Ironhide Game Studio
HYPERCHARGE: Unboxed older $24.99 3,798 90% 114k $2.8M (exactly $2,847,361) Digital Cybercherries
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Dread Dawn $19.99 2,113 71% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,267,166) Kioop
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Relic Guardian - Tower Defense $19.99 981 94% 29k $588k (exactly $588,306) Mystrigger
Machine Mind $19.99 567 71% 17k $340k (exactly $340,030) Chudo-Yudo Games
Start Over $14.99 325 60% 9.8k $146k (exactly $146,152) EY-Studio
Artificial Extinction 2 $19.99 113 77% 3.4k $68k (exactly $67,766) 100Hr Games Inc
Pull Stay $16.99 125 97% 3.8k $64k (exactly $63,712) Nito Souji
Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship $9.99 139 75% 4.2k $42k (exactly $41,658) Zing Games Inc., 紫英互娱
World Crafter TD $14.99 70 48% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,479) Tbjbu2
Beacon of Neyda $14.99 40 87% 1.2k $18k (exactly $17,988) Ghost Creative Studio

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