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Should I ship a Physics Dungeon Crawler?
Physics + Dungeon Crawler
Of 61 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 102 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $960k, ×1542 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 102 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $178 (exactly $178) |
|---|---|
| Median | $809 (exactly $809) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,109) |
| Top 5% | $969k (exactly $968,515) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 144 |
| Announced | 102 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Dungeon Crawler
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Comedy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 19,284 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 102 games are announced against 43 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Noita 2020 · $49M 
Exanima 2015 · EA · $5.7M 
YAPYAP 2026 · $2.5M 
Dungeon Clawler 2026 · $1.7M 
Cloudheim 2025 · EA · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Noita | older | $19.99 | 81,149 95% | 2.4M | $49M (exactly $48,665,055) | Nolla Games |
| | Exanima | · EA older | $14.99 | 12,684 80% | 381k | $5.7M (exactly $5,703,995) | Bare Mettle Entertainment |
| | YAPYAP | $9.99 | 8,385 83% | 252k | $2.5M (exactly $2,512,984) | Maison Bap | |
| | Dungeon Clawler | $14.99 | 3,716 88% | 111k | $1.7M (exactly $1,671,085) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
| | Cloudheim | · EA | $29.99 | 1,819 81% | 55k | $1.6M (exactly $1,636,554) | Noodle Cat Games |
 | Goblin Cleanup | · EA | $19.99 | 1,615 87% | 48k | $969k (exactly $968,515) | Crisalu Games |
 | Grimlord | $29.99 | 927 78% | 28k | $834k (exactly $834,022) | Metalcat Interactive Co.,Ltd | |
 | Battle Talent | older | $19.99 | 1,194 77% | 36k | $716k (exactly $716,042) | Cydream |
 | Rune Dice | $14.99 | 1,267 79% | 38k | $570k (exactly $569,770) | Smart Raven Studio | |
 | Cursed to Golf | older | $19.99 | 693 70% | 21k | $416k (exactly $415,592) | Chuhai Labs |
 | The Adventures of Sir Kicksalot | $9.99 | 999 98% | 30k | $299k (exactly $299,400) | Stéphane Le Roy | |
 | Flick Shot Rogues | $14.99 | 295 87% | 8.9k | $133k (exactly $132,662) | Butter By The Fish | |
 | He Who Watches | $19.99 | 109 96% | 3.3k | $65k (exactly $65,367) | Bobby Vanden | |
 | Deadly Delivery | $9.99 | 152 89% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $45,554) | Flat Head Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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