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Should I ship a Crafting Mystery Dungeon?
Crafting + Mystery Dungeon
Of 23 developers who shipped a Crafting Mystery Dungeon 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.. 57 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $57k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 57 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $57,571) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 57 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Crafting
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Mystery Dungeon; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 61% positive over 1,240 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Shattered Pixel Dungeon 2022 · $631k 
The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith 2025 · $590k 
Diggles: The Myth of Fenris 2020 · $186k 
From Frontier 2020 · $172k 
Monsters Domain 2024 · $163k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Shattered Pixel Dungeon | older | $9.99 | 2,106 95% | 63k | $631k (exactly $631,168) | Shattered Pixel |
| | The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith | $19.99 | 983 58% | 29k | $590k (exactly $589,505) | Ason | |
| | Diggles: The Myth of Fenris | older | $9.99 | 619 89% | 19k | $186k (exactly $185,514) | Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, Genera… (Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, General Arcade) |
| | From Frontier | older | $15.99 | 359 96% | 11k | $172k (exactly $172,212) | Doubles Core |
| | Monsters Domain | older | $19.99 | 272 34% | 8.2k | $163k (exactly $163,118) | G-DEVS.com |
 | Dungeon Digger | older | $39.99 | 98 81% | 2.9k | $118k (exactly $117,571) | Galactic Geckon |
 | Magisterium: Fantasy Craft | · EA older | $14.99 | 232 69% | 7.0k | $104k (exactly $104,330) | The Spiteful Games |
 | ScrewUp | older | $9.99 | 259 68% | 7.8k | $78k (exactly $77,622) | 199 Cents STUDIO |
 | Mask of Mists | older | $14.99 | 171 85% | 5.1k | $77k (exactly $76,899) | 9 Eyes Game Studio |
 | Spirit Animal Survival | $19.99 | 96 62% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | TRUEFX GAMES | |
 | The Maze Survivor: The 9th Entrants | $8.99 | 62 82% | 1.9k | $17k (exactly $16,721) | 崔资坦独立游戏Triztan IndieGame | |
 | Abyss: New Dawn | · EA | $24.99 | 19 63% | 570 | $14k (exactly $14,244) | Aloya Productions |
 | Confronted | · EA | $7.99 | 31 100% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Grumpy Rock Studios |
 | When We Arrive | $9.99 | 22 81% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | Two Pixels UG | |
 | Daughter of The Void | · EA | $9.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Shaybabe |
 | Forlorn: The mysteries of Highshadowland | $9.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | The Spiteful Games | |
 | Devil Hearts | $16.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.5k (exactly $1,529) | DDreams Games | |
 | SAE | · EA | $12.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) | SAE GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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