Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + Idler

Of 78 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 60 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $990, ×2.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 60 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 60 announced, ×0.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + Idler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 78
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $807 → $1.5k → $3.0k → $987 → $8.1k → $807 (still earning) → $716 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 78
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $987 (exactly $987)
Top 25% $3.7k (exactly $3,742)
Top 5% $64k (exactly $64,494)
Developers, 2 yr 78
Released games 113
Announced 60
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 up 80% on the market, supply 365% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Bullet Hell, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Incremental, Roguelite
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 28,387 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $990, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SuperheroStrong odds11 devs · median $3.4k · 7 announced
  2. + FaithFair26 devs · median $17k · 29 announced
  3. + VampiresFair43 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  4. + Creature CollectorFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  5. + Strategy RPGFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  6. + PiratesFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 20 announced
  7. + CatsFair44 devs · median $1.7k · 59 announced
  8. + HackingFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 17 announced
  9. + Time ManagementFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair24 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  11. + DemonsFair101 devs · median $1.2k · 125 announced
  12. + Naval CombatFair14 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced

All 185 pairs on the Bullet Hell page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite 2025 · $125k Minutescape 2025 · $98k Dice People 2025 · $64k 最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect 2022 · $60k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
Minutescape $5.99 546 74% 16k $98k (exactly $98,116) Molter
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect older $3.99 504 53% 15k $60k (exactly $60,329) 栖鸾工作室
Kin and Conquest $9.99 199 73% 6.0k $60k (exactly $59,640) The Fox Knocks
DEFRAG $2.99 534 93% 16k $48k (exactly $47,900) BlueDot Studio
Antivirus PROTOCOL $4.99 313 87% 9.4k $47k (exactly $46,856) FIREHIVE Studio
Vostok Inc. older $14.99 96 60% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Nosebleed Interactive
Duncrush $3.99 321 82% 9.6k $38k (exactly $38,424) Golden Pick Games
Thunder Tank: Iron Shield $3.99 221 82% 6.6k $26k (exactly $26,454) Crazy Studio
This Isn't Just Tower Defense $6.99 122 61% 3.7k $26k (exactly $25,583) Pri Games

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