Games › Action RPG › Action RPG + Grid-Based Movement
Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Action RPG?
Action RPG + Grid-Based Movement
Only 18 developers shipped a Grid-Based Movement Action RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Tower of Mask, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×79 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 39 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $899 (exactly $899) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,302) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,703) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 52 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action RPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Action RPG, Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $10.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Isometric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $10.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 488 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + NavalFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + WesternFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + Walking SimulatorLong shot
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
Comparable games
Classified: France '44 2024 · $1.0M 
FIGHT KNIGHT 2021 · $928k 
Vaporum 2017 · $599k 
Operencia: The Stolen Sun 2020 · $483k 
Archaelund 2024 · EA · $313k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Vaporum | older | $19.99 | 998 84% | 30k | $599k (exactly $598,501) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
| | Operencia: The Stolen Sun | older | $29.99 | 537 76% | 16k | $483k (exactly $483,139) | Zen Studios |
| | Archaelund | · EA older | $24.99 | 417 84% | 13k | $313k (exactly $312,625) | 4 Dimension Games |
 | Tower of Mask | $10.99 | 357 95% | 11k | $118k (exactly $117,703) | Papertip Studio | |
 | Heroes of the Monkey Tavern | older | $7.99 | 346 74% | 10k | $83k (exactly $82,936) | Monkey Stories |
 | Islands of the Caliph | older | $9.99 | 272 88% | 8.2k | $82k (exactly $81,518) | Schmidt Workshops |
 | Touhou Spell Carnival | $49.99 | 49 77% | 1.5k | $73k (exactly $73,485) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart, STING | |
 | Aeon of Sands - The Trail | older | $16.79 | 111 85% | 3.3k | $56k (exactly $55,911) | Two Bits Kid |
 | Slayer : the Demon Haunted World | $12.99 | 19 68% | 570 | $7.4k (exactly $7,404) | PLAY Mephistowaltz | |
 | Remnants of the Rift | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Bromio | |
 | Trial of Ariah | $11.95 | 12 91% | 360 | $4.3k (exactly $4,302) | 30 Minute Games | |
 | [English] AbsentedAge 2: Ghostbound | $15.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $3.8k (exactly $3,838) | terunon's Lab | |
 | babe-lathe | $6.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $2.3k (exactly $2,307) | tjern | |
 | VERLIES III - Resurrection | · EA | $17.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $1.6k (exactly $1,619) | Koya Game, Artifex Parvus |
 | BROKEN SOUL : Boss Rush | $12.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) | DoubleJLabs | |
 | Cursed Soul | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | DakeCraft |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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