Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Lovecraftian
Of 28 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian 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.. 84 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×452 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 84 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,514) |
| Top 25% | $33k (exactly $32,733) |
| Top 5% | $215k (exactly $214,693) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 84 |
| 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 80% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 6,490 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dungeon Crawler with a different setting or mood, 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
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M 
Iratus: Lord of the Dead 2020 · $6.5M 
Fear & Hunger 2: Termina 2022 · $5.1M 
Fear & Hunger 2019 · $5.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Iratus: Lord of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $6.5M (exactly $6,483,238) | Unfrozen |
| | Fear & Hunger 2: Termina | older | $11.99 | 14,232 97% | 427k | $5.1M (exactly $5,119,250) | Miro Haverinen |
| | Fear & Hunger | older | $7.99 | 20,881 94% | 626k | $5.0M (exactly $5,005,176) | Miro Haverinen |
 | Crawl | older | $14.99 | 5,625 95% | 169k | $2.5M (exactly $2,529,562) | Powerhoof |
 | Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager | older | $19.99 | 3,939 79% | 118k | $2.4M (exactly $2,362,218) | Goblinz Studio |
 | BLACK SOULS II | $13.99 | 5,277 97% | 158k | $2.2M (exactly $2,214,757) | Eeny, meeny, miny, moe? | |
 | Fresh Body | older | $9.99 | 1,138 74% | 34k | $341k (exactly $341,059) | LOVIGAME |
 | Archaelund | · EA older | $24.99 | 417 84% | 13k | $313k (exactly $312,625) | 4 Dimension Games |
 | Railroads & Catacombs | $19.99 | 358 73% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | MadRails | |
 | Whispers of the Eyeless | $19.99 | 226 74% | 6.8k | $136k (exactly $135,532) | Venris, Evil Gingerbread Studio | |
 | Cyclopean: The Great Abyss | $9.99 | 163 89% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $48,851) | Schmidt Workshops | |
 | SHRIMP GAME: OVERKRILL | $11.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $33k (exactly $33,452) | GasGod Games, GLUE MAN | |
 | Luck & Loot | $7.99 | 138 90% | 4.1k | $33k (exactly $33,079) | SMARTcreative | |
 | SAVE | · EA | $11.99 | 91 48% | 2.7k | $33k (exactly $32,733) | Influsion Inc. |
 | Cthulhu's Reach: Devil Reef | $9.99 | 68 80% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $20,380) | The Fine Arc | |
 | Dead Wells: The Devil Fragment | $14.99 | 40 70% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,988) | Echo7Project | |
 | Hunt the Pale Gods | $14.99 | 36 94% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Nick Papageorgiou |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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