Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Metroidvania
Should I ship a Metroidvania Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Metroidvania
Of 33 developers who shipped a Metroidvania 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.. 108 more are announced, ×6.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×14 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×1323 the market median. Revenue is up 790% on the market; 108 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.6k (exactly $6,587) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,627) |
| Top 5% | $628k (exactly $628,231) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 109 |
| Announced | 108 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 up 790% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Metroidvania
- 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, Metroidvania; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 4,164 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.8 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
Death's Door 2021 · $12M 
Lunacid 2023 · $4.4M 
Dungreed 2018 · $2.7M 
Crypt Custodian 2024 · $1.8M 
Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune 2024 · $1.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Death's Door | older | $19.99 | 19,330 93% | 580k | $12M (exactly $11,592,201) | Acid Nerve |
| | Lunacid | older | $13.99 | 10,371 90% | 311k | $4.4M (exactly $4,352,709) | KIRA LLC |
| | Dungreed | older | $9.99 | 8,988 93% | 270k | $2.7M (exactly $2,693,704) | TEAM HORAY |
| | Crypt Custodian | older | $19.99 | 2,927 96% | 88k | $1.8M (exactly $1,755,322) | Kyle Thompson |
| | Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune | older | $24.99 | 1,914 82% | 57k | $1.4M (exactly $1,434,926) | IceSitruuna |
 | Ogu and the Secret Forest | older | $24.99 | 1,817 94% | 55k | $1.4M (exactly $1,362,205) | Moonlab Studio, Sinkhole Studio |
 | Little Noah: Scion of Paradise | older | $14.99 | 2,172 92% | 65k | $977k (exactly $976,748) | Cygames, Inc., Grounding Inc. |
 | Patch Quest | older | $14.99 | 2,058 94% | 62k | $925k (exactly $925,483) | Lychee Game Labs |
 | Verho - Curse of Faces | $19.99 | 1,219 91% | 37k | $731k (exactly $731,034) | Kasur Games | |
 | Goblin Vyke: The Thief Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,397 70% | 42k | $628k (exactly $628,231) | Art Thieves | |
 | Dunjungle | $14.99 | 692 96% | 21k | $311k (exactly $311,192) | Bruno Bombardi | |
 | Elementallis | $17.99 | 263 90% | 7.9k | $142k (exactly $141,941) | AnKae Games | |
 | Paper Animal Adventure | · EA | $14.99 | 139 95% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,508) | Cuddling Raccoons Studio |
 | Lord Ambermaze | $14.99 | 131 91% | 3.9k | $59k (exactly $58,911) | Potata Company | |
 | Isle of Reveries | $19.99 | 87 91% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | desertcucco | |
 | Elmarion: the Lost Temple | $14.99 | 93 67% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | Fleon Games | |
 | Last Vanguard | $14.99 | 77 81% | 2.3k | $35k (exactly $34,627) | Cool Tapir Studios | |
 | Lost in the World of Succubi | $13.99 | 66 81% | 2.0k | $28k (exactly $27,700) | Shimofumi-ya |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.