Do I ship it?

Games › Runner › Runner + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Runner?

Runner + Aliens

Only 12 developers shipped an Alien Runner 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, This Is No Cave, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 19 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 19 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Runner + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $356 → $748 → $120 → $1.1k → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Runner + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $1.1k (exactly $1,078)
Top 5% $27k (exactly $26,632)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 58
Announced 19
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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.

Runner
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Runner
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 7 games average 97% positive over 152 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $1.0k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Runner with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 10 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + PsychologicalFair14 devs · median $839 · 12 announced
  4. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $838 · 8 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair12 devs · median $750 · 11 announced
  6. + Time AttackFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced
  7. + FPSLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  8. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds12 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  9. + MusicPoor odds16 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $1.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds40 devs · median $898 · 64 announced
  12. + Interactive FictionPoor odds10 devs · median $839 · 16 announced

All 123 pairs on the Runner page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Soda Crisis 2022 · $961k Switchcars 2021 · $44k Joggernauts 2018 · $40k This Is No Cave 2025 · $27k Meme Run 2 2020 · $8.4k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Soda Crisis older $10.99 2,915 93% 87k $961k (exactly $961,076) Team Soda
Switchcars older $8.99 164 90% 4.9k $44k (exactly $44,231) Altfuture
Joggernauts older $14.99 88 89% 2.6k $40k (exactly $39,574) Space Mace
This Is No Cave $6.99 127 96% 3.8k $27k (exactly $26,632) monome.studio
Meme Run 2 older $4.20 67 85% 2.0k $8.4k (exactly $8,442) Jordan Schuetz
LOST ORBIT: Terminal Velocity older $9.99 28 85% 840 $8.4k (exactly $8,392) PixelNAUTS Games
Saints and Sinners · EA older $6.99 22 63% 660 $4.6k (exactly $4,613) threeW
Gelatina is Hungry $14.99 8 100% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) Under Castle
The Alien Way older $9.99 11 81% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Wood Stone Game
Earth Attack older $2.99 33 96% 990 $3.0k (exactly $2,960) PTW Inc.
Iluminatus Bizarre Ascent $5.99 6 100% 180 $1.1k (exactly $1,078) EIS Games, Iluminatus
Beat Dodger $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Sun Seal Studios
Yaxi Taxi $2.99 4 100% 120 $359 (exactly $359) SUNSCOPE
Bryan's Indie Collection $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) Bryan Veres
Disco Duck $0.99 1 100% 30 $30 (exactly $30) Savannah Studios
WALLS $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Jihoooni
AIZASIA $19.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) LLC Onisino
Void Disciple · EA $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Kabeza Kabrona S.A.

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