Games › Boss Rush › Boss Rush + Shoot 'Em Up
Should I ship a Boss Rush Shoot 'Em Up?
Boss Rush + Shoot 'Em Up
Only 13 developers shipped a Boss Rush Shoot '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, ZOE Begone!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $42k, ×89 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 18 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 5% | $42k (exactly $42,258) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 18 |
| 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 down 75% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Shoot 'Em Up
- 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, Shoot 'Em Up
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 99% positive over 257 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 9 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
- + Bullet HellFair
- + Action-AdventurePoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + Dark FantasyPoor odds
- + Action RPGPoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
Comparable games
Furi 2016 · $6.7M 
The Void Rains Upon Her Heart 2018 · EA · $645k 
ITTA 2020 · $174k 
ONE BTN BOSSES 2024 · $59k 
ZOE Begone! 2025 · $42k | 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 |
| | 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 |
| | ONE BTN BOSSES | older | $11.99 | 165 87% | 5.0k | $59k (exactly $59,350) | Midnight Munchies |
| | 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 |
 | Roto Force | older | $7.99 | 96 90% | 2.9k | $23k (exactly $23,011) | Accidently Awesome |
 | Space Elite Force II | older | $5.99 | 88 89% | 2.6k | $16k (exactly $15,814) | Rising Moon Games |
 | Twinkle Hunter | older | $11.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $9.0k (exactly $8,992) | Silver Cat |
 | Dino Tower Arena | $3.99 | 44 100% | 1.3k | $5.3k (exactly $5,267) | OsKkarz_ | |
 | 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 | |
 | CybArena | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Cojokero Games | |
 | Bobble and the Tri-Crystal | $4.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | HenryNova | |
 | Dogfight Darlings | $2.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $538 (exactly $538) | dull rat | |
 | FAR FROM DEAD | $7.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $479 (exactly $479) | Brian O'Keefe | |
 | Code Breaker | $2.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $449 (exactly $449) | Morgan Campbell | |
 | Rise of the Penguins 2: Penguin's Dark Ascent | $2.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | Bill Woo |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.