Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Female Protagonist
Should I ship a Female-Led Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Female Protagonist
Of 186 developers who shipped a Female-Led 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.. 242 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.9k, ×10 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $330k, ×710 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 242 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.9k (exactly $4,946) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $32,735) |
| Top 5% | $337k (exactly $337,031) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 186 |
| Released games | 500 |
| Announced | 242 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Female Protagonist
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, JRPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 157,513 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. 8 in 10 of the 99 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 242 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dungeon Crawler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Time ManagementFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiceFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Word GameFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + DwarvesPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hades II | $29.99 | 114,419 95% | 3.4M | $103M (exactly $102,942,774) | Supergiant Games | |
| | AI LIMIT | $34.99 | 22,833 92% | 685k | $24M (exactly $23,967,800) | Sense Games | |
| | Crypt of the NecroDancer | older | $14.99 | 23,593 95% | 708k | $11M (exactly $10,609,772) | Brace Yourself Games |
| | Echoes of Aincrad | $69.99 | 4,108 47% | 123k | $8.6M (exactly $8,625,568) | Game Studio Inc. | |
| | Battle Chasers: Nightwar | older | $29.99 | 5,573 87% | 167k | $5.0M (exactly $5,014,028) | Airship Syndicate |
| | Made in Abyss: Binary Star Falling into Darkness | older | $59.99 | 2,650 79% | 80k | $4.8M (exactly $4,769,205) | Chime Corporation |
| | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
| | Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 7,859 90% | 236k | $4.7M (exactly $4,713,042) | Beamdog |
| | Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale | older | $19.99 | 6,684 95% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,008,395) | EasyGameStation |
| | Black Book | older | $24.99 | 5,306 93% | 159k | $4.0M (exactly $3,977,908) | Morteshka |
| | Cinderia | · EA | $17.99 | 4,763 88% | 143k | $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) | MyACG Studio |
| | Psychopomp GOLD | $8.99 | 4,884 97% | 147k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,215) | Fading Club | |
| | Garden of Witches | $18.99 | 1,978 92% | 59k | $1.1M (exactly $1,126,867) | Team Tapas | |
| | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
| | Lost in Random: The Eternal Die | $24.99 | 764 84% | 23k | $573k (exactly $572,771) | Stormteller Games | |
| | Labyrinth of Touhou Tri -The Dreaming Girls & The Mysterious Orbs- | $19.99 | 616 82% | 18k | $369k (exactly $369,415) | Nise-Eikoku Studio | |
| | Savara | $19.99 | 562 87% | 17k | $337k (exactly $337,031) | Doryah Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.