Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Beat 'em up?
Beat 'em up + Mystery
Only 14 developers shipped a Mystery Beat 'em up 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, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×6.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $960 against a market of $480. 27 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) |
| Top 5% | $96k (exactly $95,952) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 27 |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 60% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Beat 'em up
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Mystery
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Beat 'em up; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Third Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 225 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Beat 'em up with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + RhythmFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + NinjaLong shot
- + Combat RacingLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Judgment 2022 · $11M 
BROK the InvestiGator 2022 · $591k 
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues 2021 · $250k 
Song of Iron 2021 · $215k 
Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising 2022 · $106k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Judgment | older | $39.99 | 9,407 93% | 282k | $11M (exactly $11,285,578) | RGG Studio |
| | BROK the InvestiGator | older | $19.99 | 985 97% | 30k | $591k (exactly $590,704) | COWCAT |
| | Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues | older | $19.99 | 417 84% | 13k | $250k (exactly $250,075) | Flux Games |
| | Song of Iron | older | $19.99 | 358 72% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | Resting Relic |
| | Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising | older | $49.99 | 71 42% | 2.1k | $106k (exactly $106,479) | Flux Games |
 | My Pleasure - Season 1 | older | $13.99 | 240 76% | 7.2k | $101k (exactly $100,728) | Tasty Pics Studio, Loys |
 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown | $19.99 | 160 89% | 4.8k | $96k (exactly $95,952) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Firelight Fantasy: Vengeance | older | $13.99 | 142 79% | 4.3k | $60k (exactly $59,597) | Quacky Games |
 | Magic War | older | $24.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $7.5k (exactly $7,497) | Gamesforgames |
 | Tenebris Pictura | older | $19.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) | Pentadimensional Games SL |
 | Clavis Kinkygate: Treasure of Danau River | $4.99 | 23 34% | 690 | $3.4k (exactly $3,443) | 淫門之鑰工作室 | |
 | MeMic | $7.99 | 11 63% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | OnlineKingdom | |
 | Absence of Light | $5.99 | 10 70% | 300 | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) | Boa Noite | |
 | Death Kid | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Crooked Games | |
 | Armed Animals RPG | $15.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $959 (exactly $959) | Strejda Jenda Productions | |
 | Royal Goldenbeak and the Curse of Snowy Island | $7.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | Outside the Zoo | |
 | Farewell to my Playground | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Sloped Armour Games | |
 | Dark 4799 | $7.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $240 (exactly $240) | Nikola Krizic | |
 | BlackLaceAssassins | $1.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | VirtualDelightsPro |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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