Do I ship it?

Games › Character Customization › Character Customization + Puzzle Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Character Customization Puzzle Platformer?

Character Customization + Puzzle Platformer

Of 85 developers who shipped a Character Customization 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.. 146 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×249 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 146 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 146 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Character Customization + Puzzle Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 85
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $1.1k → $599 → $6.7k → $599 → $300 → $4.2k (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Character Customization + Puzzle Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 85
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,195)
Top 5% $157k (exactly $156,548)
Developers, 2 yr 85
Released games 235
Announced 146
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Character Customization
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Puzzle Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Character Customization, Puzzle Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Platformer, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Third Person, Cute, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 12,666 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $900, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 146 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Character Customization with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds14 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  2. + Real-TimeStrong odds7 devs · median $2.0k · 6 announced
  3. + Music-Based Procedural GenerationFair10 devs · median $18k · 8 announced
  4. + TransportationFair19 devs · median $7.2k · 24 announced
  5. + MinigamesFair27 devs · median $5.7k · 34 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.2k · 13 announced
  7. + BikesFair11 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  8. + IdlerFair210 devs · median $1.2k · 286 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair146 devs · median $1.2k · 190 announced
  10. + GamblingFair30 devs · median $836 · 32 announced
  11. + Precision PlatformerFair103 devs · median $748 · 116 announced
  12. + TypingFair27 devs · median $539 · 38 announced

All 250 pairs on the Character Customization page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Farever 2026 · EA · $5.4M Biped 2020 · $4.1M Islands of Insight 2024 · $1.4M KeyWe 2021 · $1.4M PHOGS! 2020 · $878k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Farever · EA $19.99 8,968 75% 269k $5.4M (exactly $5,378,110) Shiro Games
Biped older $14.99 9,025 85% 271k $4.1M (exactly $4,058,542) NEXT Studios
Islands of Insight older $29.99 1,604 75% 48k $1.4M (exactly $1,443,119) Lunarch Studios
KeyWe older $24.99 1,804 91% 54k $1.4M (exactly $1,352,459) Stonewheat & Sons
PHOGS! older $24.99 1,171 78% 35k $878k (exactly $877,899) Bit Loom Games
Spirit of the North 2 $29.99 934 85% 28k $840k (exactly $840,320) Infuse Studio
Funko Fusion older $34.99 679 63% 20k $713k (exactly $712,746) 1010 Games
Tchia older $29.99 571 89% 17k $514k (exactly $513,729) Awaceb
Schrodinger's Cat Burglar $19.99 613 97% 18k $368k (exactly $367,616) Abandoned Sheep
WheelMates $19.99 496 75% 15k $297k (exactly $297,451) Firevolt
The Smurfs – Dreams $29.99 174 92% 5.2k $157k (exactly $156,548) Ocellus Studio
Log Riders $4.99 660 70% 20k $99k (exactly $98,802) Bluespy Studios
Monster High™ Skulltimate Secrets™ $39.99 82 71% 2.5k $98k (exactly $98,375) Petoons Studio, Casual Brothers Ltd.
Frog Sqwad 🐸 $7.99 352 72% 11k $84k (exactly $84,374) Panic Stations
Human Fall Flat VR $12.99 128 47% 3.8k $50k (exactly $49,882) No Brakes Games
Babushka's Glitch Dungeon $5.99 259 98% 7.8k $47k (exactly $46,542) pets club 2

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