Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Idler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Idler Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Idler

Of 44 developers who shipped an Idler 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.. 67 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 $2.8k, ×6.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×616 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 67 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 67 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Idler
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: $60 → $16k → $2.1k → $4.5k → $1.3k (still earning) → $6.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Idler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $1.1k (exactly $1,134)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $15,285)
Top 5% $293k (exactly $292,507)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 109
Announced 67
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 35% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 34%, 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
Idler
effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Simulation, Auto Battler
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 6,911 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Dungeon Crawler with a different second tag, 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

Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M Horripilant 2026 · $702k Dark Hunting Ground 2025 · $300k Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons 2025 · $293k Bones and Coins 2026 · $153k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
Horripilant $7.99 2,928 92% 88k $702k (exactly $701,842) Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio
Dark Hunting Ground $12.99 771 92% 23k $300k (exactly $300,459) BingX
Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons $9.99 976 86% 29k $293k (exactly $292,507) Blast Programming
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
Miseria $7.99 350 58% 11k $84k (exactly $83,895) Somnambulist Games
Piñata Go Boom $3.99 652 91% 20k $78k (exactly $78,044) tissue inu
Vespera $7.99 317 67% 9.5k $76k (exactly $75,985) Idle Gamers
Hero Tale older $4.99 421 68% 13k $63k (exactly $63,024) Weird Johnny Studio
XiuzhenWorld2 $12.99 134 67% 4.0k $52k (exactly $52,220) Noforgetit
Mushi $14.99 97 74% 2.9k $44k (exactly $43,621) Raptor Claw Games
Chaos Entropy $11.00 48 89% 1.4k $16k (exactly $15,840) MILLIDIA

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