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Should I ship a Choices Matter Dungeon Crawler?
Choices Matter + Dungeon Crawler
Of 161 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Dungeon Crawler 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.. 320 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×731 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 320 games are announced against 103 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $21,741) |
| Top 5% | $347k (exactly $347,226) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 161 |
| Released games | 355 |
| Announced | 320 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Dungeon Crawler
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 21,579 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 7 in 10 of the 62 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 320 games are announced against 103 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Grim Dawn 2016 · $70M 
Xuan-Yuan Sword VII 2020 · $8.9M 
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition 2013 · $5.7M 
UnderMine 2020 · $5.6M 
Hand of Fate 2 2017 · $4.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Grim Dawn | older | $24.99 | 92,979 93% | 2.8M | $70M (exactly $69,706,356) | Crate Entertainment |
| | Xuan-Yuan Sword VII | older | $34.99 | 8,490 62% | 255k | $8.9M (exactly $8,911,953) | SOFTSTAR, DOMO Studio |
| | Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 9,478 92% | 284k | $5.7M (exactly $5,683,957) | Beamdog |
| | UnderMine | older | $19.99 | 9,284 90% | 279k | $5.6M (exactly $5,567,615) | Thorium |
| | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
 | Black Book | older | $24.99 | 5,306 93% | 159k | $4.0M (exactly $3,977,908) | Morteshka |
 | Ember Knights | older | $19.99 | 6,065 93% | 182k | $3.6M (exactly $3,637,180) | Doom Turtle |
 | Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 4,735 94% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) | Beamdog |
 | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
 | Age of Reforging: The Freelands | $29.99 | 2,291 71% | 69k | $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
 | How Many Dudes? | $14.99 | 2,948 89% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
 | Dwarven Realms | $9.99 | 2,850 81% | 86k | $854k (exactly $854,145) | Crater Studios | |
 | Blackthorn Arena: Reforged | $24.99 | 882 66% | 26k | $661k (exactly $661,235) | PersonaeGame Studio | |
 | Lootbound | $14.99 | 1,248 77% | 37k | $561k (exactly $561,226) | ArtDock | |
 | UnderMine 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 828 75% | 25k | $497k (exactly $496,552) | Thorium |
 | Sin Spire | $9.99 | 1,580 88% | 47k | $474k (exactly $473,526) | Krasue Games | |
 | Monomyth | · EA | $19.99 | 579 91% | 17k | $347k (exactly $347,226) | Rat Tower |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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