Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Psychological

Of 31 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 42 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 20 developers shipped in the last year and 42 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 42 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Psychological
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: $1.0k → $148 → $838 → $987 → $899 → $240 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $298 (exactly $298)
Top 25% $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 5% $4.3k (exactly $4,315)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 70
Announced 42
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 65% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Psychological
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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Card Game, Multiple Endings
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 97% positive over 4,990 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $4.3k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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

Psychopomp GOLD 2024 · $1.3M Sex with the Devil 2021 · $1.1M The Backrooms: Survival 2023 · $264k Room 301 NO.6 2022 · $26k Dead end Exit 8 2024 · $13k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Psychopomp GOLD $8.99 4,884 97% 147k $1.3M (exactly $1,317,215) Fading Club
Sex with the Devil older $7.99 4,740 76% 142k $1.1M (exactly $1,136,178) Evil Boobs Cult
The Backrooms: Survival older $9.99 881 82% 26k $264k (exactly $264,036) RE:CODE
Room 301 NO.6 older $3.99 217 90% 6.5k $26k (exactly $25,975) Inter Frame Studio
Dead end Exit 8 older $3.99 111 73% 3.3k $13k (exactly $13,287) Linkup
There Won't be Light · EA older $4.99 50 56% 1.5k $7.5k (exactly $7,485) BarCoffee Studio
CipherMind $7.99 18 77% 540 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Pigeon Games
Sundy Stairway $9.99 13 69% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Yun Seven
LYMBUS $9.99 11 90% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Happy Accident Studios
Morvyn Gutter older $5.99 18 72% 540 $3.2k (exactly $3,235) LuN
Grimslair $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) ThunderRam Studios
Puzzled Hive $5.99 16 100% 480 $2.9k (exactly $2,875) Player Links Players（PLP漂流瓶）
Excrucia $3.99 14 71% 420 $1.7k (exactly $1,676) Mansur
工廈 Warehouse $4.99 11 45% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) Echo Studio
Dark Mine $2.99 11 81% 330 $987 (exactly $987) Cyber752
The Final Breath $14.99 2 100% 60 $899 (exactly $899) VirtualSpace

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