Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Puzzle
Of 252 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 356 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×219 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 356 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 5% | $104k (exactly $104,162) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 252 |
| Released games | 706 |
| Announced | 356 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, 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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 16,105 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 132 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 356 games are announced against 134 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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
Darksiders Genesis 2019 · $9.3M 
Moncage 2021 · $2.3M 
Legend of Grimrock 2 2014 · $2.2M 
Legend of Grimrock 2012 · $2.2M 
Sol Cesto 2026 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darksiders Genesis | older | $29.99 | 10,379 82% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,337,986) | Airship Syndicate |
| | Moncage | older | $14.99 | 5,127 92% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,612) | Optillusion |
| | Legend of Grimrock 2 | older | $23.99 | 3,065 90% | 92k | $2.2M (exactly $2,205,880) | Almost Human Games |
| | Legend of Grimrock | older | $14.99 | 4,844 93% | 145k | $2.2M (exactly $2,178,347) | Almost Human Games |
| | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
 | Crypt Custodian | older | $19.99 | 2,927 96% | 88k | $1.8M (exactly $1,755,322) | Kyle Thompson |
 | Dungeons of Hinterberg | older | $22.99 | 2,403 93% | 72k | $1.7M (exactly $1,657,349) | Microbird Games |
 | Hammerwatch II | older | $24.99 | 1,871 60% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,402,689) | Crackshell |
 | Ogu and the Secret Forest | older | $24.99 | 1,817 94% | 55k | $1.4M (exactly $1,362,205) | Moonlab Studio, Sinkhole Studio |
 | Patch Quest | older | $14.99 | 2,058 94% | 62k | $925k (exactly $925,483) | Lychee Game Labs |
 | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
 | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
 | Knights in Tight Spaces | $19.99 | 831 69% | 25k | $498k (exactly $498,351) | Ground Shatter | |
 | 消失的航班，还有她她她！Lost in the secret! | $19.99 | 602 89% | 18k | $361k (exactly $361,019) | Humongous Pictures | |
 | CiniCross | $11.99 | 438 85% | 13k | $158k (exactly $157,549) | Hydrobates | |
 | Elementallis | $17.99 | 263 90% | 7.9k | $142k (exactly $141,941) | AnKae Games | |
 | Caput Mortum | $11.99 | 355 94% | 11k | $128k (exactly $127,694) | WildArts Games | |
 | BodyRecords | · EA | $6.99 | 581 70% | 17k | $122k (exactly $121,836) | MIROWIN |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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