Do I ship it?

Games › Bullet Hell › Bullet Hell + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Tower Defense Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + Tower Defense

Of 145 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 140 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 140 games are announced against 98 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 140 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 145
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $748 → $386 → $119 → $1.9k → $1.9k → $628 → $987 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 145
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $4.0k (exactly $4,042)
Top 5% $71k (exactly $70,729)
Developers, 2 yr 145
Released games 285
Announced 140
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 up 10% on the market, supply 110% 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
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Bullet Hell, Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 8,537 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $630, 1 in 4 over $4.0k, 1 in 20 over $70k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 140 games are announced against 98 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

Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Marfusha:Sentinel Girls 2021 · $747k Monsters are Coming! 2025 · $733k ShapeHero Factory 2025 · $713k Glory & Miserable Survivors DX 2023 · $446k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Marfusha:Sentinel Girls older $7.99 3,116 93% 93k $747k (exactly $746,905) hinyari9
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Glory & Miserable Survivors DX older $9.99 1,488 88% 45k $446k (exactly $445,954) TLACHTLI
Necrosmith older $2.99 4,885 85% 147k $438k (exactly $438,185) Alawar
Achilles: Survivor $8.99 1,454 81% 44k $392k (exactly $392,144) Dark Point Games
Sineus Arena Survivors $10.99 1,150 77% 35k $379k (exactly $379,155) Sineus Games
Utopia Must Fall · EA older $8.99 1,258 95% 38k $339k (exactly $339,283) Pixeljam
Necrosmith 2 older $7.99 1,315 77% 39k $315k (exactly $315,206) Alawar
Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite $5.99 698 83% 21k $125k (exactly $125,431) RyanJakob
SHOOPER NOVA $6.99 545 83% 16k $114k (exactly $114,286) Jamesika
Cyber Tower 2048 $29.99 92 88% 2.8k $83k (exactly $82,772) Galactic Geckon
The Gate Must Stand $9.99 236 78% 7.1k $71k (exactly $70,729) Senmu Studio
Skewer Squad $5.49 413 88% 12k $68k (exactly $68,021) Fake Owls
Ancient Cultivatrix $8.99 240 67% 7.2k $65k (exactly $64,728) 五条虾仁(5 shrimps)

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