Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Incremental

Of 48 developers who shipped an Incremental 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.. 64 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×322 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 64 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 64 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 48
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $955 → $5.2k → $2.2k → $1.2k (still earning) → $9.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 48
Bottom 30% $839 (exactly $839)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,157)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,774)
Top 5% $153k (exactly $152,929)
Developers, 2 yr 48
Released games 110
Announced 64
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 50% on the market, supply 290% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

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, Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 8,776 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $840, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $840. 6 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Book of Demons 2018 · $6.0M Moncage 2021 · $2.3M Dragon Cliff 2018 · $2.3M How Many Dudes? 2026 · $1.3M Horripilant 2026 · $702k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Book of Demons older $24.99 8,010 91% 240k $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) Thing Trunk
Moncage older $14.99 5,127 92% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,305,612) Optillusion
Dragon Cliff older $9.99 7,679 88% 230k $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) Meta Interaction
How Many Dudes? $14.99 2,948 89% 88k $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) Butterscotch Shenanigans
Horripilant $7.99 2,928 92% 88k $702k (exactly $701,842) Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio
Lost2 older $15.99 1,382 81% 41k $663k (exactly $662,945) DSGame
Escape Dungeon older $12.99 817 79% 25k $318k (exactly $318,385) Hide Games
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
Legacy of Defense $7.99 545 72% 16k $131k (exactly $130,636) Enter the Game Studios
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
Identifile: Desktop Dungeon · EA $9.99 148 91% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,356) Gearbyte Games
Mushi $14.99 97 74% 2.9k $44k (exactly $43,621) Raptor Claw Games
Loot Frog $6.89 153 79% 4.6k $32k (exactly $31,625) Clumsy Dog

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