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Should I ship a Tower Defense Creature Collector?
Creature Collector + Tower Defense
Of 27 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 36 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $87k, ×139 the market median. Revenue is up 340% on the market; 36 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,086) |
| Top 5% | $87k (exactly $87,047) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 340% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Creature Collector, Tower Defense; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Roguelite
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,143 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Creature Collector with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + LootFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Action RoguelikeFair
- + SpaceFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
CleanFall 2025 · EA · $295k 
Unholy Heights 2013 · $135k 
Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain 2024 · $103k 
Rogue Monster Rush 2026 · $87k 
Tower Escape 2023 · $87k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | CleanFall | · EA | $19.99 | 492 92% | 15k | $295k (exactly $295,052) | Humanyoyo |
| | Unholy Heights | older | $3.99 | 1,129 90% | 34k | $135k (exactly $135,141) | Petit Depotto |
| | Suzukuri Dungeon: Karin in the Mountain | older | $24.99 | 138 73% | 4.1k | $103k (exactly $103,459) | Karin Project |
| | Rogue Monster Rush | $11.99 | 242 93% | 7.3k | $87k (exactly $87,047) | Ghost Vibes LLC | |
| | Tower Escape | older | $7.99 | 362 83% | 11k | $87k (exactly $86,771) | Final Screw |
 | 最后的仙门 The last Practice Sect | older | $3.99 | 504 53% | 15k | $60k (exactly $60,329) | 栖鸾工作室 |
 | Bean Beasts | $13.99 | 113 89% | 3.4k | $47k (exactly $47,426) | Anxious Noob | |
 | Maze Keeper | $8.99 | 84 47% | 2.5k | $23k (exactly $22,655) | Spaceward Games | |
 | Divinity Vassals | $11.99 | 36 75% | 1.1k | $13k (exactly $12,949) | Yi | |
 | DOLLMAKER | $8.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $12k (exactly $12,136) | STH | |
 | Fire at Campsite | $5.99 | 45 82% | 1.4k | $8.1k (exactly $8,086) | Salvador Palma | |
 | Dino Market | $4.99 | 51 94% | 1.5k | $7.6k (exactly $7,635) | Fuz Games | |
 | Gods & Gore | · EA | $9.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Berm Games |
 | Catch & Defense | $6.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $3.1k (exactly $3,146) | Betaking Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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