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Should I ship a Bullet Hell Puzzle Platformer?
Bullet Hell + Puzzle Platformer
Of 20 developers who shipped a Bullet Hell Puzzle Platformer 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.. 22 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 10 developers shipped in the last year and 22 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $239 (exactly $239) |
| Top 25% | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 5% | $18k (exactly $17,991) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 63 |
| Announced | 22 |
| 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 125% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Puzzle Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Bullet Hell, Puzzle Platformer; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Platformer, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 118 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
LIBERATED 2020 · $407k 
Garbanzo Quest 2024 · $391k 
Super Time Force Ultra 2014 · $304k 
Copy Kitty 2018 · $155k 
Baby Blues Nightmares - Toddler Horror Game 2024 · $36k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | LIBERATED | older | $19.99 | 679 77% | 20k | $407k (exactly $407,196) | Atomic Wolf, L.INC |
| | Garbanzo Quest | older | $19.99 | 652 98% | 20k | $391k (exactly $391,004) | zagawee |
| | Super Time Force Ultra | older | $14.99 | 677 90% | 20k | $304k (exactly $304,447) | Capybara Games |
| | Copy Kitty | older | $14.99 | 345 97% | 10k | $155k (exactly $155,146) | Nuclear Strawberry |
| | Baby Blues Nightmares - Toddler Horror Game | older | $12.99 | 93 91% | 2.8k | $36k (exactly $36,242) | Steelkrill Studio |
 | Monospaced Lovers | $19.99 | 30 90% | 900 | $18k (exactly $17,991) | Scarlet String Studios | |
 | 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 | |
 | Under The Hood | older | $14.99 | 19 78% | 570 | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) | Shady Corner Games |
 | Flambeau Deluxxx | older | $14.99 | 19 84% | 570 | $8.5k (exactly $8,544) | Shady Corner Games |
 | Hyperstacks | $19.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $6.6k (exactly $6,597) | Squirrel Bytes | |
 | Laserade: Sugar Rush | $7.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | Design Boy | |
 | Trump Trade War | $1.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $776 (exactly $776) | Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software | |
 | The Little Moon | $3.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $598 (exactly $598) | TTeokLeaf, Wojtek | |
 | Blue Flow | $2.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $538 (exactly $538) | Zulfu Ulas Sahin | |
 | On Your Notebook | $1.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $298 (exactly $298) | Marimori | |
 | Danmaku Girl | $3.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $239 (exactly $239) | SHAN YU |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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