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Should I ship a Demon Sandbox?
Sandbox + Demons
Of 22 developers who shipped a Demon Sandbox 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.. 40 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $59k, ×95 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) |
| Top 5% | $60k (exactly $59,676) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 65 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 up 190% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Base Building, Crafting
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,740 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Dungeons 4 2023 · $3.6M 
Saints Row: Gat out of Hell 2015 · $3.5M 
Lucius II 2015 · $1.1M 
Worshippers of Cthulhu 2025 · $978k 
Hell Architect 2021 · $267k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Dungeons 4 | older | $49.99 | 2,392 86% | 72k | $3.6M (exactly $3,587,282) | Realmforge Studios |
| | Saints Row: Gat out of Hell | older | $14.99 | 7,701 75% | 231k | $3.5M (exactly $3,463,140) | Deep Silver Volition, High Voltage Soft… (Deep Silver Volition, High Voltage Software) |
| | Lucius II | older | $19.99 | 1,910 61% | 57k | $1.1M (exactly $1,145,427) | Shiver Games |
| | Worshippers of Cthulhu | $24.99 | 1,305 80% | 39k | $978k (exactly $978,358) | Crazy Goat Games | |
| | Hell Architect | older | $24.99 | 356 65% | 11k | $267k (exactly $266,893) | Woodland Games |
 | Conrad Stevenson's Paranormal P.I. | older | $9.99 | 860 93% | 26k | $258k (exactly $257,742) | D&A Studios |
 | Erannorth Chronicles | older | $20.99 | 407 85% | 12k | $256k (exactly $256,288) | Spyridon Thalassinos |
 | Epic Fantasy Battle Simulator | · EA older | $9.99 | 426 84% | 13k | $128k (exactly $127,672) | Mutiny Software |
 | Spirits of the Hellements - TD | older | $11.99 | 326 92% | 9.8k | $117k (exactly $117,262) | Hippo Rider Games |
 | Era of Miracles | older | $29.99 | 106 75% | 3.2k | $95k (exactly $95,368) | Argentum Gaming |
 | ArkCraft: The Rebirth of the World | $10.99 | 181 71% | 5.4k | $60k (exactly $59,676) | ZD Yazilim | |
 | Siren's Well | $24.99 | 62 66% | 1.9k | $46k (exactly $46,481) | OneManOnly Studios | |
 | The Story Page | · EA | $7.99 | 103 78% | 3.1k | $25k (exactly $24,689) | SPR-Games |
 | Fallen Angel: Hell Survival | $19.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) | Strongfinger | |
 | Life of Guy - Chapter 1 | $9.99 | 16 62% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | JUST1GUY | |
 | SOUL PARK | $9.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | CLEDU | |
 | SHAWA | $3.00 | 27 70% | 810 | $2.4k (exactly $2,430) | ObeZZZanDev | |
 | Legend of Hiraq | $8.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | Devai | |
 | Demon with a Pickaxe | $4.99 | 13 84% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | Challenging Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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