Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Interactive Fiction
Of 38 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $42k, ×90 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 51 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) |
| Top 5% | $43k (exactly $42,733) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 104 |
| Announced | 51 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,593 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. All of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dungeon Crawler with a different second tag, 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
Forbidden Solitaire 2026 · $1.1M 
Blades of Jianghu: Ballad of Wind and Dust 2023 · $269k 
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 2016 · $211k 
Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown 2021 · $66k 
Spooky Station 2019 · $52k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
| | Blades of Jianghu: Ballad of Wind and Dust | older | $18.99 | 472 83% | 14k | $269k (exactly $268,898) | 永恆艾莉絲工坊 |
| | The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | older | $19.99 | 352 76% | 11k | $211k (exactly $211,094) | Tin Man Games |
| | Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown | older | $19.99 | 110 77% | 3.3k | $66k (exactly $65,967) | Tin Man Games, Zero One Studio |
| | Spooky Station | older | $4.99 | 345 88% | 10k | $52k (exactly $51,646) | Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO… (Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO Game Studio, Spookids Team, Calangames, Expresso Studios, Pastel Studios, Heavy Sheep, LASTONE, Asteristic Game Studio) |
 | Slave Princess Finne, why did she sell out her own kingdom? | older | $17.99 | 82 87% | 2.5k | $44k (exactly $44,255) | Circle Fairy Flower |
 | LABYRINTHOS: The Depths Want You | $24.99 | 57 84% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $42,733) | Astronauts | |
 | Unveiling the Unknown | older | $10.99 | 128 89% | 3.8k | $42k (exactly $42,202) | TwistedScarlett60 |
 | Swordbreaker The Game | older | $4.99 | 274 82% | 8.2k | $41k (exactly $41,018) | DuCats Games Studio |
 | Native Hunter | $17.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $31k (exactly $31,303) | A.P.S | |
 | Sword Mistress of the Dungeon Town | $17.99 | 38 65% | 1.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Lov… (ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Loving You) | |
 | Willow Guard | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | MiTale | |
 | Personality Excretion Hero Silvy's Rebirth | $11.99 | 40 87% | 1.2k | $14k (exactly $14,388) | Circle Fairy Flower, サークル☆フェアリーフラワー | |
 | Damsels in Distress | $8.99 | 36 83% | 1.1k | $9.7k (exactly $9,709) | Anime Mania | |
 | 猩红梦魇 The Nightmare of Scarlet Tempest | $9.99 | 29 96% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | 拉莱椰可可 | |
 | Fiendish Quest | $9.99 | 23 73% | 690 | $6.9k (exactly $6,893) | オニチク屋！ | |
 | Fell in love with the Nobility girl As a member of the rebel organization | $6.99 | 28 78% | 840 | $5.9k (exactly $5,872) | selenophobia |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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