Games › Class-Based › Class-Based + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Class-Based game?
Class-Based + Puzzle
Only 17 developers shipped a Puzzle Class-Based game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×0.5 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360. 37 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper, while revenue is up 20% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
| Top 5% | $235k (exactly $234,743) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 20% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Class-Based
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Class-Based, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 1980s, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 637 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Class-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HeavenFair
- + SupernaturalLong shot
- + 2D PlatformerLong shot
- + FPSPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
- + MilitaryPoor odds
- + Third-Person ShooterPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Potato Flowers in Full Bloom | older | $17.99 | 654 95% | 20k | $353k (exactly $352,964) | Pon Pon Games |
| | Quantum Protocol | older | $12.99 | 625 90% | 19k | $244k (exactly $243,562) | Kaio Meris |
| | Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition | $14.99 | 522 77% | 16k | $235k (exactly $234,743) | Infinity Plus 2 | |
| | Rollers of the Realm | older | $9.99 | 375 90% | 11k | $112k (exactly $112,388) | Phantom Compass |
| | Roll Player - The Board Game | older | $14.99 | 180 91% | 5.4k | $81k (exactly $80,946) | Mipmap Digital |
| | MatchR: Now Hiring | older | $4.99 | 70 90% | 2.1k | $10k (exactly $10,479) | Delirium Tremens Games |
| | I Have Low Stats But My Class Is "Leader", So I Recruited Everyone I Know To Fight The Dark Lord | older | $14.99 | 15 66% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Cannibal Interactive |
| | Dungeons and Ducklings | $4.99 | 43 100% | 1.3k | $6.4k (exactly $6,437) | Bear Belly Games | |
| | Nothmere | $11.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $5.8k (exactly $5,755) | Wraithwood Studios | |
| | The Summoning | older | $9.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Event Horizon Software |
| | DungeonSweeper | $7.99 | 21 76% | 630 | $5.0k (exactly $5,034) | Smoketree Studios | |
| | 2048 - Dungeons | $4.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Retroverse Studio | |
| | Human Parking Simulator | $8.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) | NewAtlantisGameStudio | |
| | Christmas Fables: The Wishing Store Collector's Edition | $8.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | Do Games Limited | |
| | Wolftown | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Portponky | |
| | The Elquest | The Legend of Immortal Dremond | $7.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $719 (exactly $719) | Domax Games | |
| | Questy Chess | $5.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | Dadako |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.