Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Investigation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Investigation Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Investigation

Of 20 developers who shipped an Investigation 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.. 62 more are announced, ×6.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 62 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 62 announced, ×6.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Investigation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $12k → $238 → $3.0k → $0 → $0 (still earning) → $270 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Investigation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,997)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 65
Announced 62
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Investigation
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

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, Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action, Action-Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
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 75% positive over 3,849 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.9 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

Subliminal 2026 · $1.1M Lost Dimension 2017 · $166k Time Lock VR 2 2022 · $66k DRUDGE 2026 · EA · $54k Makai Agito 2025 · $22k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Subliminal $9.99 3,535 74% 106k $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) Accidental Studios
Lost Dimension older $24.99 221 72% 6.6k $166k (exactly $165,684) FURYU Corporation
Time Lock VR 2 older $12.99 170 88% 5.1k $66k (exactly $66,249) WR-VRG
DRUDGE · EA $12.99 139 94% 4.2k $54k (exactly $54,168) Writegg
Makai Agito $9.99 72 94% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,578) Gumi Bytes, Dani Sugimoto-Lee
Rain City older $3.99 127 56% 3.8k $15k (exactly $15,202) big pineapple
Dead end Exit 8 older $3.99 111 73% 3.3k $13k (exactly $13,287) Linkup
Dolls older $6.99 62 90% 1.9k $13k (exactly $13,001) Fake Fox
Paramnesia: Escape Together older $8.99 43 90% 1.3k $12k (exactly $11,597) Suymo
Das Geisterschiff / The Ghost Ship older $9.99 30 83% 900 $9.0k (exactly $8,991) Graverobber Foundation
Slendrina Remake $3.99 65 63% 2.0k $7.8k (exactly $7,780) GearMech
Collateral Dungeon $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Techosaurus Studios
Security Control · EA $4.99 5 60% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Greavette Games
Dungeon Shifters · EA $4.99 5 80% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Shifting Realms
To find her $1.99 11 90% 330 $657 (exactly $657) 寻踪开发商
Tomb of Hope $2.99 6 66% 180 $538 (exactly $538) RustyPallasCats
Dark Dice: Cthulhu Investigation Log · EA $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Selig Interactive

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