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Should I ship a Physics Bullet Hell?
Physics + Bullet Hell
Of 110 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 173 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 65 developers shipped in the last year and 173 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 5% | $107k (exactly $106,993) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 110 |
| Released games | 270 |
| Announced | 173 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Bullet Hell
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Bullet Hell; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 31,776 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 53 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 173 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M 
VOID/BREAKER 2025 · EA · $2.3M 
Reassembly 2015 · $1.6M 
Galactic Glitch 2025 · $359k 
Disassembly 3D 2017 · $278k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Soulstone Survivors | $14.99 | 25,749 91% | 772k | $12M (exactly $11,579,325) | Game Smithing Limited | |
| | VOID/BREAKER | · EA | $29.99 | 2,506 91% | 75k | $2.3M (exactly $2,254,648) | Stubby Games |
| | Reassembly | older | $14.99 | 3,611 94% | 108k | $1.6M (exactly $1,623,867) | Anisoptera Games |
| | Galactic Glitch | $12.99 | 920 89% | 28k | $359k (exactly $358,524) | Crunchy Leaf Games | |
| | Disassembly 3D | older | $29.99 | 309 81% | 9.3k | $278k (exactly $278,007) | Khor Chin Heong |
 | Bang Bang Barrage | $7.99 | 757 95% | 23k | $181k (exactly $181,453) | Monkey Bread | |
 | Mahjong | older | $9.99 | 589 84% | 18k | $177k (exactly $176,523) | Sanuk Games |
 | Disassembly VR | older | $29.99 | 157 59% | 4.7k | $141k (exactly $141,253) | Khor Chin Heong |
 | Lake of Creatures | $12.49 | 354 92% | 11k | $133k (exactly $132,644) | ANTENNA GAMES | |
 | Last Man Sitting | $9.99 | 357 77% | 11k | $107k (exactly $106,993) | DoubleMoose Games | |
 | Star Survivor | $4.99 | 540 67% | 16k | $81k (exactly $80,838) | SpaceOwl Games, Erabit | |
 | Skewer Squad | $5.49 | 413 88% | 12k | $68k (exactly $68,021) | Fake Owls | |
 | ArmorSim | · EA | $18.99 | 77 57% | 2.3k | $44k (exactly $43,867) | Timerlan Galimov |
 | Freefall '95 | $11.99 | 103 99% | 3.1k | $37k (exactly $37,049) | S-Bend Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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