Do I ship it?

Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Perma Death

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Perma Death Creature Collector?

Creature Collector + Perma Death

Of 30 developers who shipped a Perma Death Creature Collector 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.. 33 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×8.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.2k. Revenue is flat on the market; 33 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 8.4 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 33 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Creature Collector + Perma Death
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $23k → $5.3k → $6.5k → $8.1k (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Creature Collector + Perma Death: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,198)
Median $5.3k (exactly $5,267)
Top 25% $29k (exactly $28,781)
Top 5% $247k (exactly $246,566)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 43
Announced 33
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 flat on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Perma Death
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
Creature Collector, Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, RPG, Roguelite
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $25.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $25.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 4,166 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $5.3k, 1 in 4 over $28k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Bullet HellFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair38 devs · median $3.2k · 38 announced
  3. + LootFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  4. + IdlerFair248 devs · median $2.1k · 260 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair177 devs · median $1.9k · 191 announced
  6. + Action RoguelikeFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  7. + SpaceFair30 devs · median $1.5k · 39 announced
  8. + ZombiesFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 10 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair73 devs · median $629 · 85 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds31 devs · median $28k · 82 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds14 devs · median $23k · 43 announced
  12. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $16k · 11 announced

All 133 pairs on the Creature Collector page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Aethermancer 2025 · EA · $2.0M 9th Dawn Remake 2024 · $247k The Monster Breeder 2025 · $245k Tower Escape 2023 · $87k Montabi 2026 · $74k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Aethermancer · EA $25.99 2,585 91% 78k $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) moi rai games
9th Dawn Remake $15.99 514 86% 15k $247k (exactly $246,566) Valorware
The Monster Breeder $29.99 272 91% 8.2k $245k (exactly $244,718) Fantasy Creations
Tower Escape older $7.99 362 83% 11k $87k (exactly $86,771) Final Screw
Montabi $19.99 123 95% 3.7k $74k (exactly $73,763) Mankibo
Sculplings $10.99 179 99% 5.4k $59k (exactly $59,016) Conor Garity, Liam Kerrigan
Isle of Swaps $14.99 129 90% 3.9k $58k (exactly $58,011) Fuzz Force
Abomi Nation older $14.99 119 84% 3.6k $54k (exactly $53,514) Orange Pylon Games
The Corpsmen older $19.99 77 57% 2.3k $46k (exactly $46,177) Multicell Games
Identifile: Desktop Dungeon · EA $9.99 148 91% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,356) Gearbyte Games
Letalis $14.99 64 95% 1.9k $29k (exactly $28,781) Monkiato
Maze Keeper $8.99 84 47% 2.5k $23k (exactly $22,655) Spaceward Games
Eternal Sword Tomb · EA $8.99 68 77% 2.0k $18k (exactly $18,340) 阿郎

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