Games › Adventure › Adventure + Mars
Should I ship a Mars Adventure game?
Adventure + Mars
Of 31 developers who shipped a Mars Adventure 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×93 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,159) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $58,477) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 94 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 115% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Adventure; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Base Building, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,505 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered 2018 · $2.0M 
Fort Solis 2023 · $1.7M 
Moons of Madness 2019 · $1.6M 
Red Faction®: Armageddon™ 2011 · $1.6M 
Red Faction 2009 · $726k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered | older | $19.99 | 3,385 79% | 102k | $2.0M (exactly $2,029,984) | Volition, KAIKO |
| | Fort Solis | older | $24.99 | 2,300 69% | 69k | $1.7M (exactly $1,724,310) | Fallen Leaf, Black Drakkar Games |
| | Moons of Madness | older | $24.99 | 2,189 77% | 66k | $1.6M (exactly $1,641,093) | Rock Pocket Games |
| | Red Faction®: Armageddon™ | older | $19.99 | 2,615 70% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,568,215) | Volition |
| | Red Faction | older | $9.99 | 2,421 85% | 73k | $726k (exactly $725,574) | Volition |
 | The Technomancer | older | $9.99 | 2,288 68% | 69k | $686k (exactly $685,714) | Spiders |
 | Take On Mars | older | $9.99 | 1,751 55% | 53k | $525k (exactly $524,775) | Bohemia Interactive |
 | Blossom: The Seed of Life | $16.99 | 1,011 88% | 30k | $515k (exactly $515,307) | Pebbledust Games | |
 | Mars: War Logs | older | $4.99 | 2,450 75% | 74k | $367k (exactly $366,765) | Spiders |
 | Waking Mars | older | $9.99 | 651 89% | 20k | $195k (exactly $195,105) | Tiger Style |
 | Surviving Mars: Pioneer | $24.99 | 78 83% | 2.3k | $58k (exactly $58,477) | Bolverk Games | |
 | 1 Trait Escape | $9.99 | 178 97% | 5.3k | $53k (exactly $53,347) | Andrew Katz, Jeremy Collette | |
 | Mars Vice | $24.99 | 70 97% | 2.1k | $52k (exactly $52,479) | Rho Labyrinths GmbH | |
 | Utopia Colony | $16.99 | 99 63% | 3.0k | $50k (exactly $50,460) | GridSky Studios | |
 | Donutal | $9.99 | 30 93% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Arc System Works | |
 | The Vault: Logic Puzzle Box | $9.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Peaksel | |
 | Psychedelia: The Psychonaut | $17.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.2k (exactly $2,159) | Rohan Chapman von Wedel | |
 | Exo Digger | $4.99 | 14 14% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | TornaGames | |
 | debris | $9.99 | 6 16% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Evar Space |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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