Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Runner Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Runner

Of 20 developers who shipped a Runner 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.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.6k → $298 → $180 → $281 → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $750 (exactly $750)
Top 5% $610k (exactly $609,895)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 57
Announced 16
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 40% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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
Runner
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, Runner; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,078 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $180, 1 in 4 over $750, 1 in 20 over $600k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Bloodthief 2025 · $610k Dungeon Coup 2021 · $22k Hunter Girls 2021 · $7.5k Fiendish Quest 2025 · $6.9k Jumping Cat 2023 · $3.5k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bloodthief $19.99 1,017 95% 31k $610k (exactly $609,895) Blargis
Dungeon Coup older $9.99 75 64% 2.3k $22k (exactly $22,478) Mr Z Games
Hunter Girls older $4.99 50 78% 1.5k $7.5k (exactly $7,485) ·
Fiendish Quest $9.99 23 73% 690 $6.9k (exactly $6,893) オニチク屋！
Jumping Cat older $2.99 39 69% 1.2k $3.5k (exactly $3,498) Simple Touch
Jenny Love You $4.99 23 69% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Phantom Pixel
Active Mummy older $4.99 22 81% 660 $3.3k (exactly $3,293) RENFALC
bloody lonely cold older $2.99 34 41% 1.0k $3.1k (exactly $3,050) yx
The Way of Cooking older $7.99 12 91% 360 $2.9k (exactly $2,876) 大连酷码星数字科技有限公司
Protolife: Other Side older $8.99 10 30% 300 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) Aleksei Grishin
行走 Walk $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) 无音 Deaf Team
The Pilgrim's Progress $24.99 1 100% 30 $750 (exactly $750) Elvio Lujan
The Night of Escape $3.99 3 0% 90 $359 (exactly $359) LiTang
Mythic Factor: Leaving the Labyrinth $9.36 1 100% 30 $281 (exactly $281) Sean Pearson
Circuit Runner $5.99 1 100% 30 $180 (exactly $180) No Sleep Till Monday
Ultimate super boy $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) WaterGames
Escape From kiss $1.99 3 33% 90 $179 (exactly $179) CE JIN_策今, MI YU Studio_谜予网络游戏工作室

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