Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Alternate History

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alternate-History Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Alternate History

Of 23 developers who shipped an Alternate-History Dungeon Crawler 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.. 53 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.9M, ×3042 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 53 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 53 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Alternate History
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $419 → $179 → $2.0k → $15k → $807 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Alternate History: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,077)
Top 25% $9.4k (exactly $9,444)
Top 5% $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 56
Announced 53
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 25% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Alternate History
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Anime, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,807 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $9.4k, 1 in 20 over $1.9M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Time ManagementFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  3. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  5. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  7. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  8. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 announced
  9. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  10. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  11. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced

All 175 pairs on the Dungeon Crawler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hell Clock 2025 · $2.1M KLETKA 2026 · $1.9M Nigate Tale 2024 · $407k Home and Dungeon 2020 · $170k Blade&Sword 2022 · $130k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hell Clock $19.99 3,535 82% 106k $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) Rogue Snail
KLETKA $9.99 6,374 90% 191k $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288) Callback, ln404
Nigate Tale $19.99 678 67% 20k $407k (exactly $406,597) Hermit Games, 2P Games
Home and Dungeon older $16.99 333 84% 10k $170k (exactly $169,730) Manufacture
Blade&Sword older $5.99 726 66% 22k $130k (exactly $130,462) Beijing Pixel Software Technology Joint… (Beijing Pixel Software Technology Joint-Stock Co.,Ltd.)
Class of Heroes 3 Remaster $29.99 52 67% 1.6k $47k (exactly $46,784) ACQUIRE Corp., Zerodiv
Nazi Furry older $6.99 151 82% 4.5k $32k (exactly $31,665) Furry Tails
TeamTower · EA older $19.99 37 64% 1.1k $22k (exactly $22,189) pink rabbit
Monastery · EA older $15.99 39 94% 1.2k $19k (exactly $18,708) Lycan Studio
Eclipse older $2.99 173 68% 5.2k $16k (exactly $15,518) MadRock
Blade & Sword 2: Ancient Legend $6.99 70 74% 2.1k $15k (exactly $14,679) Beijing Pixel Software Technology Joint… (Beijing Pixel Software Technology Joint-Stock Co.,Ltd.)
Millennium Strategy $14.99 21 85% 630 $9.4k (exactly $9,444) MiMo Games
新世勇者传 Newera Heroes' Chronicle $6.99 20 85% 600 $4.2k (exactly $4,194) Zzzzz工作室
Toushin Gent $4.99 24 100% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) PhijkchuGames
LYMBUS $9.99 11 90% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Happy Accident Studios
The Book of Aaru $2.99 22 86% 660 $2.0k (exactly $1,973) Amenti Studio

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