Games › Adventure › Adventure + Match 3
Should I ship a Match 3 Adventure game?
Adventure + Match 3
Of 42 developers who shipped a Match 3 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $780, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×391 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 44 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $779 (exactly $779) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,876) |
| Top 5% | $186k (exactly $185,726) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 421 |
| Announced | 44 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 flat on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure, Match 3; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, RPG, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Cartoony
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 5,358 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different second tag, 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
Mirror 2: Project X 2022 · EA · $6.6M 
Mirror 2018 · $4.3M 
The Legend of Bum-Bo 2019 · $2.5M 
POPUCOM 2025 · $2.1M 
Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe 2017 · $974k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Mirror 2: Project X | · EA older | $1.99 | 111,251 24% | 3.3M | $6.6M (exactly $6,641,685) | KAGAMI Ⅱ WORKs |
| | Mirror | older | $1.99 | 72,623 96% | 2.2M | $4.3M (exactly $4,335,593) | KAGAMI WORKS |
| | The Legend of Bum-Bo | older | $14.99 | 5,654 80% | 170k | $2.5M (exactly $2,542,604) | Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Rid… (Edmund McMillen, James Interactive, Ridiculon) |
| | POPUCOM | $19.99 | 3,432 87% | 103k | $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) | Hypergryph | |
| | Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe | older | $19.99 | 1,624 95% | 49k | $974k (exactly $973,913) | Trinket Studios |
 | Humans are not that against Lizardwomen | older | $3.99 | 2,807 93% | 84k | $336k (exactly $335,998) | Hue Axis Entertainment |
 | PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords | older | $9.99 | 1,025 86% | 31k | $307k (exactly $307,192) | Infinite Interactive |
 | Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - Definitive Edition | older | $17.99 | 434 80% | 13k | $234k (exactly $234,230) | Dotemu, Capybara Games |
 | Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 | $19.99 | 341 96% | 10k | $204k (exactly $204,498) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Mindcop | $14.99 | 413 94% | 12k | $186k (exactly $185,726) | Andre Gareis | |
 | Humans are not that against Lizardwomen 2 | $9.99 | 389 93% | 12k | $117k (exactly $116,583) | Hue Axis Entertainment | |
 | Lucky Hunter | $5.99 | 413 89% | 12k | $74k (exactly $74,216) | 159 Studio | |
 | Furry Adventure Club and the Holy Grail 🦁 | $6.99 | 161 93% | 4.8k | $34k (exactly $33,762) | Furry Dreams Lab | |
 | Kaamos: Puzzle Roguelike | $9.99 | 73 87% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,878) | Pepperbox Studios | |
 | ChronoBabes | $3.99 | 81 80% | 2.4k | $9.7k (exactly $9,696) | Vinci | |
 | 转生魔塔 | $11.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | Zeros | |
 | Rune Ark | $6.99 | 29 65% | 870 | $6.1k (exactly $6,081) | WelesGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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