Games › Exploration › Exploration + Bullet Hell
Should I ship an Exploration Bullet Hell?
Exploration + Bullet Hell
Of 131 developers who shipped an Exploration 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.. 236 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×156 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 236 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) |
| Top 5% | $74k (exactly $73,898) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 321 |
| Announced | 236 |
| 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 down 55% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Exploration
- 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
- Exploration, Bullet Hell; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 5,368 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 74 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 68 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Touhou Luna Nights 2019 · $7.4M 
Rabi-Ribi 2016 · $5.8M 
Dungeon Munchies 2022 · $4.0M 
Minishoot' Adventures 2024 · $3.5M 
TEVI 2023 · $3.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Touhou Luna Nights | older | $17.99 | 13,776 97% | 413k | $7.4M (exactly $7,434,907) | Team Ladybug, WSS playground |
| | Rabi-Ribi | older | $17.99 | 10,768 95% | 323k | $5.8M (exactly $5,811,490) | CreSpirit, GemaYue |
| | Dungeon Munchies | older | $19.99 | 6,596 97% | 198k | $4.0M (exactly $3,955,621) | maJAJa |
| | Minishoot' Adventures | older | $14.99 | 7,818 97% | 235k | $3.5M (exactly $3,515,755) | SoulGame Studio |
| | TEVI | older | $29.99 | 3,580 88% | 107k | $3.2M (exactly $3,220,926) | CreSpirit, GemaYue, Ein Lee |
 | Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok | older | $9.99 | 6,180 88% | 185k | $1.9M (exactly $1,852,146) | Noxfall Studios |
 | Gensokyo Night Festival | · EA older | $12.99 | 4,497 69% | 135k | $1.8M (exactly $1,752,481) | WSS playground, tea_basira |
 | Reassembly | older | $14.99 | 3,611 94% | 108k | $1.6M (exactly $1,623,867) | Anisoptera Games |
 | Luna Abyss | $29.99 | 923 86% | 28k | $830k (exactly $830,423) | Kwalee Labs | |
 | Picayune Dreams | older | $4.99 | 4,164 98% | 125k | $623k (exactly $623,351) | Stepford, Andyland, milkypossum |
 | NIMRODS | · EA | $9.99 | 1,783 85% | 53k | $534k (exactly $534,365) | Fiveamp |
 | Galactic Glitch | $12.99 | 920 89% | 28k | $359k (exactly $358,524) | Crunchy Leaf Games | |
 | Kvark | $19.99 | 461 86% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Latest Past, Perun Creative | |
 | Seer's Gambit | $14.99 | 490 76% | 15k | $220k (exactly $220,353) | Unleash The Giraffe | |
 | Cyberwar: Neon City | · EA | $17.99 | 171 90% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $92,289) | Cyber Monkey Studios |
 | MYRIAD DEATH | $8.99 | 274 85% | 8.2k | $74k (exactly $73,898) | IGNITION M, Clover Lab.,inc. | |
 | Outrider Mako | $17.99 | 121 65% | 3.6k | $65k (exactly $65,304) | Asamado Games | |
 | Identifile: Desktop Dungeon | · EA | $9.99 | 148 91% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $44,356) | Gearbyte Games |
 | ArmorSim | · EA | $18.99 | 77 57% | 2.3k | $44k (exactly $43,867) | Timerlan Galimov |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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