Games › Simulation › Simulation + Dungeon Crawler
Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Simulation game?
Simulation + Dungeon Crawler
Of 147 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Simulation 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.. 232 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $820k, ×1315 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 232 games are announced against 88 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $390 (exactly $390) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,157) |
| Top 25% | $44k (exactly $44,488) |
| Top 5% | $826k (exactly $825,714) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 147 |
| Released games | 376 |
| Announced | 232 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Dungeon Crawler
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Dungeon Crawler; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 22,873 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 7 in 10 of the 70 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 232 games are announced against 88 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
Moonlighter 2018 · $10M 
War for the Overworld 2015 · $5.8M 
Exanima 2015 · EA · $5.7M 
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale 2010 · $4.0M 
Legendary Tales 2024 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Moonlighter | older | $19.99 | 17,286 82% | 519k | $10M (exactly $10,366,414) | Digital Sun |
| | War for the Overworld | older | $29.99 | 6,495 85% | 195k | $5.8M (exactly $5,843,552) | Brightrock Games |
| | Exanima | · EA older | $14.99 | 12,684 80% | 381k | $5.7M (exactly $5,703,995) | Bare Mettle Entertainment |
| | Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale | older | $19.99 | 6,684 95% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,008,395) | EasyGameStation |
| | Legendary Tales | older | $39.99 | 2,711 76% | 81k | $3.3M (exactly $3,252,387) | Urban Wolf Games Inc. |
 | Pixel Piracy | older | $14.99 | 5,713 65% | 171k | $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) | Vitali Kirpu |
 | Moncage | older | $14.99 | 5,127 92% | 154k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,612) | Optillusion |
 | Dragon Cliff | older | $9.99 | 7,679 88% | 230k | $2.3M (exactly $2,301,396) | Meta Interaction |
 | Dead Age | older | $14.99 | 4,407 83% | 132k | $2.0M (exactly $1,981,828) | Silent Dreams |
 | Dungeon Clawler | $14.99 | 3,716 88% | 111k | $1.7M (exactly $1,671,085) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
 | Three Kingdoms Mushouden | $24.99 | 1,876 72% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,406,437) | NanBei Studio | |
 | How Many Dudes? | $14.99 | 2,948 89% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
 | JIANGHU CHRONICLES | $17.99 | 2,046 70% | 61k | $1.1M (exactly $1,104,226) | 一品阁 | |
 | Subliminal | $9.99 | 3,535 74% | 106k | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) | Accidental Studios | |
 | Goblin Cleanup | · EA | $19.99 | 1,615 87% | 48k | $969k (exactly $968,515) | Crisalu Games |
 | Dungeon Settlers | · EA | $24.99 | 1,117 79% | 34k | $837k (exactly $837,415) | CanOpener |
 | Return from Core | $16.99 | 1,620 75% | 49k | $826k (exactly $825,714) | 顽核社 FuncoreClub | |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
 | Dungeon Tycoon | $14.99 | 1,472 78% | 44k | $662k (exactly $661,958) | Lunheim Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.