Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Dragons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dragon Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Dragons

Of 44 developers who shipped a Dragon Dungeon Crawler 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.. 83 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $220k, ×361 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 83 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 83 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Dragons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $43k → $5.9k → $628 → $63k → $4.1k → $899 (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Dragons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $628 (exactly $628)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,248)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,362)
Top 5% $227k (exactly $226,898)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 136
Announced 83
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 35% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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.

Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Dragons
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
Dungeon Crawler; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Loot, Action RPG
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $22.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $22.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 4,872 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $220k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 6 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 83 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Dungeon Crawler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Time ManagementFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  3. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  5. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  7. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  8. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 announced
  9. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  10. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  11. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced

All 175 pairs on the Dungeon Crawler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dragonkin: The Banished 2026 · $1.7M Hammerwatch II 2023 · $1.4M Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord 2024 · $1.3M Slice & Dice 2024 · $670k Munchkin Digital 2023 · $608k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dragonkin: The Banished $24.99 2,239 72% 67k $1.7M (exactly $1,678,578) Eko Software
Hammerwatch II older $24.99 1,871 60% 56k $1.4M (exactly $1,402,689) Crackshell
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord older $34.99 1,209 77% 36k $1.3M (exactly $1,269,087) Digital Eclipse
Slice & Dice older $8.99 2,484 96% 75k $670k (exactly $669,935) Tann
Munchkin Digital older $14.99 1,352 76% 41k $608k (exactly $607,994) Dire Wolf
Clank! $22.99 542 92% 16k $374k (exactly $373,817) Dire Wolf
Wigmund older $14.99 795 80% 24k $358k (exactly $357,512) The Scholastics
Fight The Dragon older $9.99 993 78% 30k $298k (exactly $297,602) 3 Sprockets
Mirror of Heaven older $9.25 995 79% 30k $276k (exactly $276,112) EnjoyPlay Ltd
Ancient Kingdoms · EA $15.99 473 86% 14k $227k (exactly $226,898) Ancient Pixels
Soul's Chronicle: Immortal Slayer $14.99 441 77% 13k $198k (exactly $198,318) 正向星光工作室
Embers Adrift $19.99 240 69% 7.2k $144k (exactly $143,928) Stormhaven Studios
Cladun X3 $39.99 83 90% 2.5k $100k (exactly $99,575) Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
Scarmonde $13.99 215 98% 6.5k $90k (exactly $90,236) Ephiam
Dark Quest 4 $19.99 136 75% 4.1k $82k (exactly $81,559) Brain Seal Ltd
Gargadusa's Tower $8.99 294 90% 8.8k $79k (exactly $79,292) The Math Team
Dragon Ruins II $9.99 209 87% 6.3k $63k (exactly $62,637) Graverobber Foundation

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