Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Nature

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Nature Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Nature

Of 31 developers who shipped a Nature 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.. 72 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×290 the market median. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 72 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 72 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Nature
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $2.7k → $120 → $28k → $990 → $372 (still earning) → $900 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Nature: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $148 (exactly $148)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,875)
Top 5% $138k (exactly $137,515)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 70
Announced 72
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.66

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 140% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Nature
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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, RPG, Adventure
Price point
$6.66 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.66.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 6,568 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.8k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Dungeon Crawler with a different setting or mood, 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

Len's Island 2025 · $4.4M Ogu and the Secret Forest 2024 · $1.4M Hive Blight 2026 · EA · $138k LEVEL UP 80 2024 · $119k DEFENDUN : Hero Defense 2024 · $43k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Len's Island $24.99 5,935 82% 178k $4.4M (exactly $4,449,470) Flow Studio
Ogu and the Secret Forest older $24.99 1,817 94% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,362,205) Moonlab Studio, Sinkhole Studio
Hive Blight · EA $12.49 367 94% 11k $138k (exactly $137,515) OptizOnion
LEVEL UP 80 older $39.99 99 79% 3.0k $119k (exactly $118,770) Galactic Geckon
DEFENDUN : Hero Defense older $8.99 159 72% 4.8k $43k (exactly $42,882) MYMEStudio
Rewrite Harvest festa! $19.99 64 96% 1.9k $38k (exactly $38,381) VisualArts/Key
Island Paradise $14.99 79 77% 2.4k $36k (exactly $35,526) GSG
Grimoire Groves $19.99 47 82% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,186) Stardust
Huge Jaws older $24.99 23 65% 690 $17k (exactly $17,243) Piece Of Voxel
Wilderplace older $12.99 29 100% 870 $11k (exactly $11,301) Saman Bemel-Benrud, Micah Fitch, Tom Lu… (Saman Bemel-Benrud, Micah Fitch, Tom Lubanovic)
Hatarake! - Working Hard! Even though I getting isekai'd! $4.99 26 88% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) Ilumiansoft
Nyaz $7.99 14 85% 420 $3.4k (exactly $3,356) Altoterras Corporation
Puzzled Hive $5.99 16 100% 480 $2.9k (exactly $2,875) Player Links Players（PLP漂流瓶）
Solnox - Grimoire of Seasons $6.66 12 75% 360 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) ByteRockers' Games
Hell Bug $6.99 8 100% 240 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) Artisan Knights Studios

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