Do I ship it?

Games › RPG › RPG + Boss Rush

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Boss Rush RPG?

RPG + Boss Rush

Of 20 developers who shipped a Boss Rush RPG 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.. 27 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $630. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 27 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 27 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Boss Rush
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.6k → $6.5k → $88k → $779 (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Boss Rush: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,796)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,772)
Top 5% $2.2M (exactly $2,151,124)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 38
Announced 27
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 465% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Boss Rush
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
RPG, Boss Rush; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Combat
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,186 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $2.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 27 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  4. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  5. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  6. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  7. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  9. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  10. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  11. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced
  12. + Turn-BasedPoor odds208 devs · median $27k · 294 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rubinite 2026 · $2.2M Eldest Souls 2021 · $1.9M Dinoblade 2026 · $1.5M Perennial Order 2024 · $412k IDLE BOSS RUSH 2025 · $246k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rubinite $19.99 3,587 94% 108k $2.2M (exactly $2,151,124) Cup Dog Games, GameWorks Ventures
Eldest Souls older $19.99 3,125 76% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,062) Fallen Flag Studio
Dinoblade $19.99 2,420 90% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,451,274) Team Spino LLC
Perennial Order older $19.99 687 93% 21k $412k (exactly $411,994) Gardenfiend Games
IDLE BOSS RUSH $9.99 820 66% 25k $246k (exactly $245,754) Irid Games
UNYIELDER $24.99 117 62% 3.5k $88k (exactly $87,715) TrueWorld Studios
Gripper older $19.99 51 84% 1.5k $31k (exactly $30,585) Heart Core
BOSSGAME: The Final Boss Is My Heart older $9.99 83 98% 2.5k $25k (exactly $24,875) Lilycore Games
Towertale older $9.99 50 90% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,985) MiSou Games
ABYSSAL BLADE $4.99 92 96% 2.8k $14k (exactly $13,772) Vifer Games
Slay All Bosses: Idle $4.99 84 60% 2.5k $13k (exactly $12,575) Memoria Interactive
Healer $9.99 13 76% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Valentin Louvet
Echoes of Forgotten Dreams $4.99 25 100% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) Nomary, Sesame
InTheLake $4.99 16 100% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) ZhiZhi
FlashBoss $4.99 12 100% 360 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) Odiin

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