Do I ship it?

GamesDungeon CrawlerDungeon Crawler + Resource Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Resource Management game?

Dungeon Crawler + Resource Management

Of 89 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Resource Management game 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.. 170 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×491 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 170 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 170 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Resource Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 89
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.0k → $46k → $33k → $2.2k → $3.3k → $1.1k → $7.5k (still earning) → $4.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Resource Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 89
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,158)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,774)
Top 5% $233k (exactly $233,283)
Developers, 2 yr 89
Released games 156
Announced 170
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 100% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Resource Management
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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, Resource Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Adventure
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 7,823 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 170 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Dungeon Crawler with a different second tag, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dungeon of the ENDLESS™ older $11.99 9,419 87% 283k $3.4M (exactly $3,388,014) AMPLITUDE Studios
Dungeon Settlers · EA $24.99 1,117 79% 34k $837k (exactly $837,415) CanOpener
Regions Of Ruin older $11.99 1,972 84% 59k $709k (exactly $709,328) Gameclaw Studio
Horripilant $7.99 2,928 92% 88k $702k (exactly $701,842) Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio
The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith $19.99 983 58% 29k $590k (exactly $589,505) Ason
Nevergrind Online older $15.99 1,221 86% 37k $586k (exactly $585,714) Neverworks Games
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island $39.99 470 85% 14k $564k (exactly $563,859) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Desktop Dungeons older $14.99 1,134 88% 34k $510k (exactly $509,960) QCF Design
Mech Engineer older $14.99 928 74% 28k $417k (exactly $417,322) KiberKreker
Heaven Dust 2 older $14.99 771 90% 23k $347k (exactly $346,719) One Gruel Studio
Regions of Ruin: Runegate $19.99 389 84% 12k $233k (exactly $233,283) Gameclaw Studio
Guardians of the Sanctree $19.99 284 72% 8.5k $170k (exactly $170,315) HuCang Studio
Winnie's Hole · EA $15.99 326 94% 9.8k $156k (exactly $156,382) Twice Different
Bones and Coins $7.99 638 72% 19k $153k (exactly $152,929) Troyd Games
生嚿叉燒好過生你 $14.99 284 88% 8.5k $128k (exactly $127,715) 無厘頭遊戲工作室
Goblin Sushi · EA $9.99 404 89% 12k $121k (exactly $121,079) Old Cake Factory

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