Do I ship it?

Games › RTS › RTS + Dungeon Crawler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler RTS?

RTS + Dungeon Crawler

Only 12 developers shipped a Dungeon Crawler RTS in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Age of Reforging: The Freelands, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×7.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $9.0k against a market of $1.5k. 28 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 28 announced, ×7.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RTS + Dungeon Crawler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for RTS + Dungeon Crawler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $2.1k (exactly $2,098)
Median $9.0k (exactly $8,963)
Top 25% $52k (exactly $52,220)
Top 5% $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 34
Announced 28
Effort 7 / 10
AI-buildability Low
Typical price $11.00

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 20% on the market, supply 50% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

RTS
effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
Systems
RTS, Dungeon Crawler
Price point
$11.00 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 2,864 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.1k, median $9.0k, 1 in 4 over $52k, 1 in 20 over $2.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 6 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

RTS with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomeFair12 devs · median $64k · 13 announced
  2. + Outbreak SimFair16 devs · median $2.6k · 14 announced
  3. + HorrorFair20 devs · median $2.4k · 27 announced
  4. + NavalFair15 devs · median $2.4k · 21 announced
  5. + TabletopFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  6. + SportsLong shot19 devs · median $861 · 9 announced
  7. + PuzzleLong shot48 devs · median $479 · 40 announced
  8. + World War IIPoor odds23 devs · median $105k · 38 announced
  9. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds28 devs · median $64k · 41 announced
  10. + Open WorldPoor odds45 devs · median $35k · 100 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds87 devs · median $31k · 159 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds108 devs · median $30k · 180 announced

All 149 pairs on the RTS page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M Age of Reforging: The Freelands 2025 · $2.1M Dungeons 2 2015 · $1.4M We Are The Dwarves 2016 · $482k Mech Engineer 2024 · $417k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
War for the Overworld older $29.99 6,495 85% 195k $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) Brightrock Games
Age of Reforging: The Freelands $29.99 2,291 71% 69k $2.1M (exactly $2,061,213) PersonaeGame Studio
Dungeons 2 older $19.99 2,292 79% 69k $1.4M (exactly $1,374,512) Realmforge Studios
We Are The Dwarves older $14.99 1,072 75% 32k $482k (exactly $482,078) Whale Rock Games
Mech Engineer older $14.99 928 74% 28k $417k (exactly $417,322) KiberKreker
Impire older $19.99 347 48% 10k $208k (exactly $208,096) Cyanide Montreal
Necronator: Dead Wrong older $12.99 353 67% 11k $138k (exactly $137,564) Toge Productions
Lewd Dungeon Manager 🔞 $14.99 139 66% 4.2k $63k (exactly $62,508) Lewd Star
XiuzhenWorld2 $12.99 134 67% 4.0k $52k (exactly $52,220) Noforgetit
巴哈姆特1-REMAKE(BAHAMUT1-REMAKE) $9.99 170 95% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,949) 王韋
Chaos Entropy $11.00 48 89% 1.4k $16k (exactly $15,840) MILLIDIA
Legacy of Sin: Ill-Boding $12.99 23 69% 690 $9.0k (exactly $8,963) Absolute Power Game Studio
Arinoa: Conquest $14.99 16 87% 480 $7.2k (exactly $7,195) Alternate
Warlordocracy $4.99 27 96% 810 $4.0k (exactly $4,042) Brian J. Lancaster, Laughing Coyote Sof… (Brian J. Lancaster, Laughing Coyote Software)
Indomitus: Path of Ordeals $9.99 7 100% 210 $2.1k (exactly $2,098) Aestone Studio
Slime Dreamscape $0.99 9 100% 270 $267 (exactly $267) Sleep Early Game

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