Games › Co-op › Co-op + Puzzle
Should I ship a Co-op Puzzle game?
Co-op + Puzzle
Of 300 developers who shipped a Co-op Puzzle game 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.. 510 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×1.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×481 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 510 games are announced against 189 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,553) |
| Top 5% | $721k (exactly $720,660) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 300 |
| Released games | 973 |
| Announced | 510 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Co-op, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Online Co-Op, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 108,931 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 147 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 510 games are announced against 189 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Co-op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SuperheroFair
- + Boomer ShooterFair
- + GamblingFair
- + NinjaFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Word GameLong shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + World War IIPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + TransportationPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
Comparable games
It Takes Two 2021 · $262M 
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
Teardown 2022 · $114M 
Human Fall Flat 2016 · $105M 
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga 2022 · $57M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | It Takes Two | older | $39.99 | 218,492 95% | 6.6M | $262M (exactly $262,124,852) | Hazelight Studios |
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | Teardown | older | $29.99 | 126,563 95% | 3.8M | $114M (exactly $113,868,731) | Tuxedo Labs |
| | Human Fall Flat | older | $19.99 | 174,835 94% | 5.2M | $105M (exactly $104,848,549) | No Brakes Games |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
 | Little Nightmares II | older | $29.99 | 50,280 92% | 1.5M | $45M (exactly $45,236,916) | Tarsier Studios |
 | Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 | older | $24.99 | 36,950 95% | 1.1M | $28M (exactly $27,701,415) | Red Dot Games |
 | BattleBlock Theater® | older | $14.99 | 55,793 97% | 1.7M | $25M (exactly $25,090,112) | The Behemoth |
 | DEVOUR | older | $9.99 | 68,664 90% | 2.1M | $21M (exactly $20,578,601) | Straight Back Games |
 | REANIMAL | $39.99 | 13,809 78% | 414k | $17M (exactly $16,566,657) | Tarsier Studios | |
 | Little Nightmares III | $39.99 | 10,165 46% | 305k | $12M (exactly $12,194,950) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Liar's Bar | · EA | $6.99 | 48,708 89% | 1.5M | $10M (exactly $10,214,068) | Curve Animation |
 | Ghost Watchers | $14.99 | 12,729 86% | 382k | $5.7M (exactly $5,724,231) | Renderise | |
 | Cat Mail Co. | $14.99 | 6,289 92% | 189k | $2.8M (exactly $2,828,163) | Maracas Studio | |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
 | Gunsmith Simulator | $24.99 | 3,165 84% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) | GameHunters | |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | POPUCOM | $19.99 | 3,432 87% | 103k | $2.1M (exactly $2,058,170) | Hypergryph |
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.