Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Base Building game?

Base Building + Dungeon Crawler

Of 60 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Base Building 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.. 121 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $15k, ×24 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4093 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 121 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 24.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 121 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 60
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $75k → $599 → $163k → $66k → $169k → $11k → $3.6k (still earning) → $47k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 60
Bottom 30% $2.2k (exactly $2,157)
Median $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 25% $233k (exactly $233,283)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591)
Developers, 2 yr 60
Released games 115
Announced 121
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $13.99

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 80% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
Base Building, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Crafting
Price point
$13.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 31,034 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.2k, median $15k, 1 in 4 over $230k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 5 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 121 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cult of the Lamb 2022 · $84M Pax Dei 2025 · $6.4M War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M Len's Island 2025 · $4.4M Cinderia 2026 · EA · $2.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cult of the Lamb older $24.99 112,096 95% 3.4M $84M (exactly $84,038,371) Massive Monster
Pax Dei $29.99 7,163 56% 215k $6.4M (exactly $6,444,551) Mainframe Industries
War for the Overworld older $29.99 6,495 85% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) Brightrock Games
Len's Island $24.99 5,935 82% 178k $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) Flow Studio
Cinderia · EA $17.99 4,763 88% 143k $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) MyACG Studio
Romestead · EA $13.99 4,660 76% 140k $2.0M (exactly $1,955,802) Beartwigs
Dungeons 2 older $19.99 2,292 79% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,374,512) Realmforge Studios
JIANGHU CHRONICLES $17.99 2,046 70% 61k $1.1M (exactly $1,104,226) 一品阁
Patch Quest older $14.99 2,058 94% 62k $925k (exactly $925,483) Lychee Game Labs
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Return from Core $16.99 1,620 75% 49k $826k (exactly $825,714) 顽核社 FuncoreClub
Dungeon Tycoon $14.99 1,472 78% 44k $662k (exactly $661,958) Lunheim Studios
Blackthorn Arena: Reforged $24.99 882 66% 26k $661k (exactly $661,235) PersonaeGame Studio
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games

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