Do I ship it?

Games › Crafting › Crafting + Twin Stick Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Twin Stick Shooter?

Crafting + Twin Stick Shooter

Only 8 developers shipped a Crafting Twin Stick Shooter 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, Soulstone Survivors, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $31k against a market of $630. 22 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 49.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 22 announced, ×5.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Twin Stick Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Crafting + Twin Stick Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $15k (exactly $15,290)
Median $31k (exactly $31,169)
Top 25% $256k (exactly $256,106)
Top 5% $12M (exactly $11,579,325)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 27
Announced 22
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $14.88

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 90% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Crafting
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Twin Stick Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Crafting, Twin Stick Shooter
Price point
$14.88 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 27,612 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $16k, median $31k, 1 in 4 over $250k, 1 in 20 over $11M.

3 in 10 developers made under $16k. 22 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M Crafty Survivors 2025 · $256k 9th Dawn III 2020 · $240k Vortica 2026 · $42k Elite Exorcist Miko 2024 · EA · $31k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Crafty Survivors $11.99 712 83% 21k $256k (exactly $256,106) Flannel Bear Games
9th Dawn III older $15.99 501 87% 15k $240k (exactly $240,330) Valorware
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios
Elite Exorcist Miko · EA $9.99 104 96% 3.1k $31k (exactly $31,169) tian nya
Star Singularity · EA older $14.99 66 78% 2.0k $30k (exactly $29,680) Star Bunny Enterprises
Blacksea Odyssey older $9.99 96 77% 2.9k $29k (exactly $28,771) Blacksea Odyssey
Sun Down Survivors older $4.99 185 50% 5.6k $28k (exactly $27,694) Pixel Sprout Studios
Gunforged $8.99 72 80% 2.2k $19k (exactly $19,418) Firebelley
RoadOut $14.99 34 97% 1.0k $15k (exactly $15,290) Rastrolabs Game Studio
Dino-Ducks Mayhem · EA $14.88 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,786) Duckosaurus Games
No Final Run $8.99 3 100% 90 $809 (exactly $809) Nordstern

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