Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Horror
Of 250 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 429 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2230 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 429 games are announced against 139 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,495) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 250 |
| Released games | 563 |
| Announced | 429 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 30% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Horror
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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 Action, Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 359,359 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 121 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 429 games are announced against 139 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth 2014 · $187M 
Path of Exile 2 2024 · EA · $151M 
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Escape the Backrooms 2025 · $41M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth | older | $14.99 | 415,060 96% | 12M | $187M (exactly $186,652,482) | Nicalis, Inc., Edmund McMillen |
| | Path of Exile 2 | · EA | $29.99 | 167,730 76% | 5.0M | $151M (exactly $150,906,681) | Grinding Gear Games |
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Escape the Backrooms | $9.99 | 137,315 90% | 4.1M | $41M (exactly $41,153,306) | Fancy Games, Blackbird Interactive | |
 | Deadzone: Rogue | $24.99 | 15,041 82% | 451k | $11M (exactly $11,276,238) | Prophecy Games | |
 | Exanima | · EA older | $14.99 | 12,684 80% | 381k | $5.7M (exactly $5,703,995) | Bare Mettle Entertainment |
 | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina | older | $11.99 | 14,232 97% | 427k | $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) | Miro Haverinen |
 | Fear & Hunger | older | $7.99 | 20,881 94% | 626k | $5.0M (exactly $5,005,176) | Miro Haverinen |
 | Curse of the Dead Gods | older | $19.99 | 7,807 84% | 234k | $4.7M (exactly $4,681,858) | Passtech Games |
 | Mortal Sin | $24.99 | 5,583 94% | 167k | $4.2M (exactly $4,185,575) | Nikola Todorovic | |
 | MIMESIS | · EA | $9.99 | 8,396 84% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | YAPYAP | $9.99 | 8,385 83% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,512,984) | Maison Bap | |
 | Hell Clock | $19.99 | 3,535 82% | 106k | $2.1M (exactly $2,119,940) | Rogue Snail | |
 | KLETKA | $9.99 | 6,374 90% | 191k | $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288) | Callback, ln404 | |
 | Psychopomp GOLD | $8.99 | 4,884 97% | 147k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,215) | Fading Club | |
 | Labyrinth Of The Demon King | $19.99 | 2,116 92% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,268,965) | J. R. Hudepohl |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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