Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + Puzzle

Of 55 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 74 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 $270, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 74 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper, while revenue is down 20% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 74 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 55
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $8.5k → $1.1k → $599 → $179 → $270 → $297 (still earning) → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 55
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $270 (exactly $270)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,697)
Top 5% $133k (exactly $132,644)
Developers, 2 yr 55
Released games 194
Announced 74
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 20% on the market, supply 20% 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
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Bullet Hell, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Roguelite
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,166 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $270, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

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

Full Metal Furies 2018 · $1.3M Patch Quest 2023 · $925k ShapeHero Factory 2025 · $713k Ikaruga 2014 · $658k PUSS! 2018 · $318k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Full Metal Furies older $19.99 2,108 91% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,264,168) Cellar Door Games
Patch Quest older $14.99 2,058 94% 62k $925k (exactly $925,483) Lychee Game Labs
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Ikaruga older $9.99 2,197 95% 66k $658k (exactly $658,441) TREASURE
PUSS! older $9.99 1,062 92% 32k $318k (exactly $318,281) teamcoil
Super Time Force Ultra older $14.99 677 90% 20k $304k (exactly $304,447) Capybara Games
Disassembly 3D older $29.99 309 81% 9.3k $278k (exactly $278,007) Khor Chin Heong
Kvark $19.99 461 86% 14k $276k (exactly $276,462) Latest Past, Perun Creative
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
Cyber Tower 2048 $29.99 92 88% 2.8k $83k (exactly $82,772) Galactic Geckon
Outrider Mako $17.99 121 65% 3.6k $65k (exactly $65,304) Asamado Games
Project Tower $9.99 76 75% 2.3k $23k (exactly $22,777) Yummy Games
NBB.EXE $19.99 18 100% 540 $11k (exactly $10,795) Raptus Games
Princess of the Water Lilies $14.99 24 100% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) Why Knot Studio, Red Dunes Games
Bullet: Surge $15.99 18 94% 540 $8.6k (exactly $8,635) Cerbere Games
Hyperstacks $19.99 11 90% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) Squirrel Bytes

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