Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Post-apocalyptic

Of 64 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 150 more are announced, ×4.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.2M, ×1989 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 150 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 180% on the market, 150 announced, ×4.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $23k → $9.8k → $1.6k → $1.1k → $899 → $4.5k → $1.2k (still earning) → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,495)
Top 5% $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 167
Announced 150
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 180% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 50,336 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 150 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.5 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

Grim Dawn 2016 · $70M AI LIMIT 2025 · $24M Deadzone: Rogue 2025 · $11M MIMESIS 2025 · EA · $2.5M Dead Age 2016 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Grim Dawn older $24.99 92,979 93% 2.8M $70M (exactly $69,706,356) Crate Entertainment
AI LIMIT $34.99 22,833 92% 685k $24M (exactly $23,967,800) Sense Games
Deadzone: Rogue $24.99 15,041 82% 451k $11M (exactly $11,276,238) Prophecy Games
MIMESIS · EA $9.99 8,396 84% 252k $2.5M (exactly $2,516,281) ReLU Games, Inc.
Dead Age older $14.99 4,407 83% 132k $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) Silent Dreams
Stellar Tactics $24.99 1,666 77% 50k $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) Don Wilkins
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning older $59.99 650 77% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,169,805) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
PILGRIM · EA older $7.99 3,109 66% 93k $745k (exactly $745,227) DESPERATE MEASURES
Astalon: Tears of the Earth older $19.99 995 92% 30k $597k (exactly $596,702) LABS Works
LET IT DIE: INFERNO $24.99 774 52% 23k $580k (exactly $580,268) SUPERTRICK GAMES, Inc.
Monomyth · EA $19.99 579 91% 17k $347k (exactly $347,226) Rat Tower
MeteoriteFall $12.99 651 78% 20k $254k (exactly $253,695) ST studio
DRUDGE · EA $12.99 139 94% 4.2k $54k (exactly $54,168) Writegg
PlatyGuard: Swarm Slayer $14.99 117 74% 3.5k $53k (exactly $52,615) ChillyRoom
Schism $11.99 140 96% 4.2k $50k (exactly $50,358) Fami

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