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Should I ship an Alien Grid-Based Movement game?
Grid-Based Movement + Aliens
Only 16 developers shipped an Alien Grid-Based Movement game 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, Earth vs Mars, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $33k, ×70 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,930) |
| Top 5% | $33k (exactly $33,278) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 170% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grid-Based Movement
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Grid-Based Movement; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Arcade, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 278 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
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Comparable games
Spaceland: Sci-Fi Indie Tactics 2019 · $215k 
Shattered Planet 2014 · $183k 
The Last Cube 2022 · $77k 
Corrupted: Dawn of Havoc 2024 · EA · $34k 
Earth vs Mars 2025 · $33k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Spaceland: Sci-Fi Indie Tactics | older | $19.99 | 358 75% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | Tortuga Team |
| | Shattered Planet | older | $14.99 | 406 68% | 12k | $183k (exactly $182,578) | Kitfox Games |
| | The Last Cube | older | $19.99 | 129 96% | 3.9k | $77k (exactly $77,361) | Improx Games |
| | Corrupted: Dawn of Havoc | · EA older | $14.99 | 75 65% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $33,728) | 36Litters |
| | Earth vs Mars | $14.99 | 74 85% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | Relic Entertainment | |
 | Astro Protocol | $11.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | Null Vector Studios | |
 | Star Traders: 4X Empires | older | $9.99 | 61 60% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $18,282) | Trese Brothers |
 | ALAN-13 Reformation | older | $15.99 | 34 82% | 1.0k | $16k (exactly $16,310) | Viktor Kovács |
 | WORMHOLE | $9.99 | 51 98% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | Pocket Moon Games, ThanaThan | |
 | Celestial Project | older | $9.99 | 35 71% | 1.1k | $10k (exactly $10,490) | KumaPaw |
 | Horizons: The End Of Words | $5.99 | 33 87% | 990 | $5.9k (exactly $5,930) | PUNKCAKE Delicieux | |
 | Hexitten | $14.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | Korkea Maki Studios | |
 | Fungal Colony Sim 2 | $7.99 | 13 61% | 390 | $3.1k (exactly $3,116) | Skylor Beck | |
 | the travelers | $4.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Gabriel Games LLC | |
 | Asterogue | $5.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Chris McCormick | |
 | Totally Defenceless | $7.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | render | |
 | ScaleBox | $4.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | EGGNISI |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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