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Should I ship a Deckbuilding Bullet Hell?
Bullet Hell + Deckbuilding
Of 79 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding 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.. 97 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×499 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 97 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,773) |
| Top 5% | $237k (exactly $237,125) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 79 |
| Released games | 142 |
| Announced | 97 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Bullet Hell, Deckbuilding; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 21,030 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 45 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Bullet Hell with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SuperheroStrong odds
- + FaithFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
- + PiratesFair
- + CatsFair
- + HackingFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Naval CombatFair
Comparable games
Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M 
One Step From Eden 2020 · $3.6M 
Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k 
ShapeHero Factory 2025 · $713k 
The Knight Witch 2022 · $386k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Magicraft | $15.99 | 15,051 92% | 452k | $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) | Wave Games | |
| | One Step From Eden | older | $19.99 | 6,039 94% | 181k | $3.6M (exactly $3,621,588) | Thomas Moon Kang |
| | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
| | ShapeHero Factory | $23.99 | 991 88% | 30k | $713k (exactly $713,223) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd | |
| | The Knight Witch | older | $19.99 | 643 72% | 19k | $386k (exactly $385,607) | Super Mega Team |
 | FORCED SHOWDOWN | older | $19.99 | 491 82% | 15k | $294k (exactly $294,453) | BetaDwarf |
 | Reap and Rush | $14.99 | 622 77% | 19k | $280k (exactly $279,713) | Beijing Pacifier Technology | |
 | Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot | $4.99 | 1,584 79% | 48k | $237k (exactly $237,125) | Konfa Games | |
 | Nomad Survival | older | $4.99 | 1,517 87% | 46k | $227k (exactly $227,095) | The Fox Knocks |
 | SealChain: Call of Blood | $8.99 | 537 56% | 16k | $145k (exactly $144,829) | AliveGameStudio | |
 | Bioweaver | $6.99 | 668 77% | 20k | $140k (exactly $140,080) | Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games | |
 | DreamEcho | $11.99 | 369 79% | 11k | $133k (exactly $132,729) | HotWaterStudio | |
 | Archons | $9.99 | 406 92% | 12k | $122k (exactly $121,678) | BulletHell Studios | |
 | Godslayer Arena | · EA | $14.99 | 257 76% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Hippo Rider Games |
 | SHOOPER NOVA | $6.99 | 545 83% | 16k | $114k (exactly $114,286) | Jamesika |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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