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Should I ship a Boss Rush Bullet Hell?
Boss Rush + Bullet Hell
Of 27 developers who shipped a Boss Rush Bullet Hell 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.. 31 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 31 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 5% | $50k (exactly $50,000) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 31 |
| 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 up 60% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Boss Rush
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Bullet Hell
- 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
- Boss Rush, Bullet Hell; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, PvE, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 767 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Boss Rush with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RPGFair
- + Action RoguelikeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + ShooterFair
- + Action-AdventurePoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
Furi 2016 · $6.7M 
NanoApostle 2024 · $710k 
The Void Rains Upon Her Heart 2018 · EA · $645k 
ITTA 2020 · $174k 
UNYIELDER 2025 · $88k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Furi | older | $19.99 | 11,246 90% | 337k | $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) | The Game Bakers |
| | NanoApostle | older | $19.99 | 1,184 95% | 36k | $710k (exactly $710,045) | 18Light Game Ltd. |
| | The Void Rains Upon Her Heart | · EA older | $12.99 | 1,655 99% | 50k | $645k (exactly $644,954) | Veyeral Games |
| | ITTA | older | $14.99 | 386 89% | 12k | $174k (exactly $173,584) | Glass Revolver |
| | UNYIELDER | $24.99 | 117 62% | 3.5k | $88k (exactly $87,715) | TrueWorld Studios | |
 | ONE BTN BOSSES | older | $11.99 | 165 87% | 5.0k | $59k (exactly $59,350) | Midnight Munchies |
 | Second Stellar | · EA | $4.99 | 334 99% | 10k | $50k (exactly $50,000) | Pepperlog |
 | ZOE Begone! | $9.99 | 141 100% | 4.2k | $42k (exactly $42,258) | Retchy Games | |
 | Dead | older | $4.99 | 257 91% | 7.7k | $38k (exactly $38,473) | Alec Smith, Dane Winn |
 | Nowhere Patrol | older | $4.99 | 229 96% | 6.9k | $34k (exactly $34,281) | Slugsoft |
 | VOIDFACE | $8.99 | 78 96% | 2.3k | $21k (exactly $21,037) | Frog Hat Labs | |
 | Bittersweet Birthday | $17.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $14k (exactly $14,032) | World Eater Games | |
 | Virus Rush + Hazard of the Ages | $11.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $4.7k (exactly $4,676) | STRANGER | |
 | Pancake Patrol | $4.99 | 25 92% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | Power Plins Games | |
 | GOLIATH | $3.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Dawg | |
 | Periodicity - Hats and scars | $4.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | PunPun.Studio | |
 | Bobble and the Tri-Crystal | $4.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | HenryNova |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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