Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Life Sim

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Life Sim Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Life Sim

Of 21 developers who shipped a Life Sim 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.. 48 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $71k, ×151 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 48 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 48 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Life Sim
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.1k → $29k → $4.0k → $3.6k → $17k → $898 → $719 (still earning) → $748 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Life Sim: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,566)
Top 5% $72k (exactly $71,952)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 53
Announced 48
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 85% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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
Life Sim
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Life Sim; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Building
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 1,174 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 $750, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $71k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 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

Ogu and the Secret Forest 2024 · $1.4M Lynked: Banner of the Spark 2025 · $169k Dungeon Dreams 2 2024 · $125k Mega Mall Story 2022 · $81k Dino Ramen Express 2026 · EA · $72k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ogu and the Secret Forest older $24.99 1,817 94% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,362,205) Moonlab Studio, Sinkhole Studio
Lynked: Banner of the Spark $14.99 375 77% 11k $169k (exactly $168,638) FuzzyBot
Dungeon Dreams 2 older $19.99 209 90% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) DDreams Games
Mega Mall Story older $8.99 302 94% 9.1k $81k (exactly $81,449) Kairosoft Co.,Ltd
Dino Ramen Express · EA $14.99 160 72% 4.8k $72k (exactly $71,952) ANTIGames
Museum No.9 $9.99 208 75% 6.2k $62k (exactly $62,338) YaoYi Technology
DRUDGE · EA $12.99 139 94% 4.2k $54k (exactly $54,168) Writegg
Santhai older $12.99 137 89% 4.1k $53k (exactly $53,389) Hardworker Studio, Rachan Neamprasert
Nimbit Frontier · EA $13.99 113 97% 3.4k $47k (exactly $47,426) Megasploot
Lust Bunker [18+] older $9.99 130 66% 3.9k $39k (exactly $38,961) BanzaiProject
Dreaming Isles $6.99 79 51% 2.4k $17k (exactly $16,566) YawningDad
Demon Corporation: Onboarding $6.99 42 95% 1.3k $8.8k (exactly $8,807) A Shrine of Ludens
MagicCar of Delicious $9.99 26 76% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) YINGGUO GAME
Hatarake! - Working Hard! Even though I getting isekai'd! $4.99 26 88% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Ilumiansoft
Landmaster · EA $4.99 6 33% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Creative Quark

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