Do I ship it?

GamesAuto BattlerAuto Battler + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Auto Battler?

Auto Battler + Puzzle

Of 30 developers who shipped a Puzzle Auto Battler 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.. 40 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $700k, ×1478 the market median. Revenue is up 195% on the market; 40 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 195% on the market, 40 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Auto Battler + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.5k → $537 → $1.5k → $179 → $719 → $48k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Auto Battler + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,033)
Top 5% $702k (exactly $701,842)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 66
Announced 40
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 195% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Auto Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Auto Battler, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Combat, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,782 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 $720, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Auto Battler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ProgrammingFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonFair17 devs · median $13k · 16 announced
  3. + AutomationFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  4. + Action RTSFair24 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  5. + SimulationFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  6. + EconomyFair59 devs · median $2.4k · 79 announced
  7. + SandboxFair45 devs · median $1.9k · 42 announced
  8. + CyberpunkFair20 devs · median $1.7k · 25 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair23 devs · median $1.6k · 28 announced
  10. + CatsFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 14 announced
  11. + ArcadeFair78 devs · median $1.1k · 93 announced
  12. + SwordplayFair13 devs · median $1.1k · 8 announced

All 119 pairs on the Auto Battler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Horripilant $7.99 2,928 92% 88k $702k (exactly $701,842) Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio
DemonCrawl older $14.99 1,230 76% 37k $553k (exactly $553,131) Therefore Games
Titanium Court $14.99 1,094 94% 33k $492k (exactly $491,972) AP Thomson
Turnbound $14.99 446 78% 13k $201k (exactly $200,566) 1TK
Crop Rotation older $9.99 508 94% 15k $152k (exactly $152,248) Sprouting Potato
A Tiny Sticker Tale older $9.99 471 97% 14k $141k (exactly $141,159) Ogre Pixel
Candy Disaster - Tower Defense older $13.99 250 81% 7.5k $105k (exactly $104,925) ACE Entertainment
SkyShard: City Battler · EA $14.99 106 97% 3.2k $48k (exactly $47,668) ItsBen321
Merge & Blade older $9.99 121 76% 3.6k $36k (exactly $36,264) Magic Cube
Zero Orders Tactics $11.99 89 91% 2.7k $32k (exactly $32,013) Pauloondra
Dungeon Dev $3.99 63 85% 1.9k $7.5k (exactly $7,541) Team ETTU
Blades, Bows and Magic $6.99 24 91% 720 $5.0k (exactly $5,033) Funk Games
Dungeon Destroyer $4.99 28 100% 840 $4.2k (exactly $4,192) 作っちゃうおじさん/TUKUCHAU-OJISAN
Wizard Tournament $6.99 13 76% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Rachop Studios

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