Do I ship it?

GamesBoss RushBoss Rush + Sci-fi

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sci-fi Boss Rush game?

Boss Rush + Sci-fi

Only 17 developers shipped a Sci-fi Boss Rush game 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, Terminator 2D: NO FATE, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $420. Revenue is flat on the market; 16 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 16 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Boss Rush + Sci-fi
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $46k → $3.0k → $14k → $419 (still earning) → $748 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Boss Rush + Sci-fi: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $8.1k (exactly $8,092)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,304,565)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 32
Announced 16
Effort 4 / 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 flat on the market, supply 365% 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.

Boss Rush
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Sci-fi
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Boss Rush; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Combat
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,744 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $840, 1 in 4 over $8.0k, 1 in 20 over $1.3M.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Boss Rush with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RPGFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  2. + Action RoguelikeFair20 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  3. + ShooterFair16 devs · median $537 · 20 announced
  4. + Bullet HellFair27 devs · median $479 · 31 announced
  5. + Action-AdventurePoor odds20 devs · median $3.7k · 42 announced
  6. + Hack and SlashPoor odds13 devs · median $3.5k · 39 announced
  7. + CombatPoor odds49 devs · median $1.6k · 79 announced
  8. + Souls-likePoor odds21 devs · median $1.6k · 44 announced
  9. + Action RPGPoor odds16 devs · median $1.6k · 32 announced
  10. + Dark FantasyPoor odds17 devs · median $1.6k · 30 announced
  11. + RoguelitePoor odds16 devs · median $1.6k · 21 announced
  12. + Female ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $1.6k · 21 announced

All 20 pairs on the Boss Rush page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

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
Terminator 2D: NO FATE $29.99 1,450 84% 44k $1.3M (exactly $1,304,565) Bitmap Bureau
NanoApostle older $19.99 1,184 95% 36k $710k (exactly $710,045) 18Light Game Ltd.
UNYIELDER $24.99 117 62% 3.5k $88k (exactly $87,715) TrueWorld Studios
Prison City older $9.99 152 84% 4.6k $46k (exactly $45,554) Retroware, Programancer
VOIDFACE $8.99 78 96% 2.3k $21k (exactly $21,037) Frog Hat Labs
Space Elite Force II older $5.99 88 89% 2.6k $16k (exactly $15,814) Rising Moon Games
Bittersweet Birthday $17.99 26 92% 780 $14k (exactly $14,032) World Eater Games
Gravity Storm: First Mission $9.99 27 100% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Jampley Games
Baseless $12.99 15 93% 450 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Fermenter Games
Snack Invaders · EA $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Whippy Games
CybArena $4.99 10 100% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Cojokero Games
MARINE.EXE - Desktop RPG $6.99 4 75% 120 $839 (exactly $839) Exopoint Initiative
GRID/ $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) NoeNoe Games

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