Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Hack and Slash

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Creature Collector Hack and Slash game?

Creature Collector + Hack and Slash

Of 25 developers who shipped a Creature Collector Hack and Slash 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.. 35 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×6.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $610k, ×985 the market median. Revenue is up 440% on the market; 35 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 440% on the market, 35 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Hack and Slash
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $228k → $179 → $2.4k → $2.4k → $899 → $14k → $7.2k (still earning) → $133k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Hack and Slash: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $3.8k (exactly $3,835)
Top 25% $33k (exactly $32,967)
Top 5% $619k (exactly $618,787)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 53
Announced 35
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.00

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 440% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Creature Collector
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Creature Collector, Hack and Slash; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, RPG
Price point
$11.00 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2.5D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $11.00.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 6,209 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $3.8k, 1 in 4 over $32k, 1 in 20 over $610k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Perma DeathFair30 devs · median $5.3k · 33 announced
  2. + Bullet HellFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  3. + CapitalismFair38 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  4. + LootFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  5. + IdlerFair248 devs · median $2.1k · 260 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair177 devs · median $1.9k · 191 announced
  7. + Action RoguelikeFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  8. + SpaceFair30 devs · median $1.5k · 39 announced
  9. + ZombiesFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair73 devs · median $629 · 85 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $28k · 82 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds14 devs · median $23k · 43 announced

All 133 pairs on the Creature Collector page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

WILD HEARTS™ 2023 · $22M Temtem: Swarm 2026 · $969k Anomaly President 2026 · EA · $619k Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle 2026 · $541k Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 2022 · $256k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
WILD HEARTS™ older $69.99 10,626 48% 319k $22M (exactly $22,311,412) KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 older $24.99 342 89% 10k $256k (exactly $256,397) NEKOTOKAGE GAMES
9th Dawn Remake $15.99 514 86% 15k $247k (exactly $246,566) Valorware
Undead Horde 2: Necropolis older $16.99 447 83% 13k $228k (exactly $227,836) 10tons Ltd
XiuzhenWorld older $12.99 436 75% 13k $170k (exactly $169,909) Noforgetit
DreamEcho $11.99 369 79% 11k $133k (exactly $132,729) HotWaterStudio
Cultivation Magic World · EA $12.99 276 78% 8.3k $108k (exactly $107,557) DMG Studio
Wildkeepers Rising $9.99 110 79% 3.3k $33k (exactly $32,967) Lioncode Games
Spirit Mancer $19.99 51 72% 1.5k $31k (exactly $30,585) Sunny Syrup Studio
神魔山海经 Gods Monster $11.99 57 59% 1.7k $21k (exactly $20,503) 红尘背包客
Abyss: New Dawn · EA $24.99 19 63% 570 $14k (exactly $14,244) Aloya Productions

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