Do I ship it?

GamesDungeon CrawlerDungeon Crawler + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Space

Of 33 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 62 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 62 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper, while revenue is down 10% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 62 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 33
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $16k → $66k → $599 → $2.7k → $30 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 33
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 5% $390k (exactly $390,203)
Developers, 2 yr 33
Released games 88
Announced 62
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 10% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, RPG
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 3,817 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $390k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 62 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Dungeon Crawler with a different setting or mood, 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
Stellar Tactics $24.99 1,666 77% 50k $1.2M (exactly $1,249,000) Don Wilkins
Deep Sky Derelicts older $19.99 1,985 73% 60k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,404) Snowhound Games
My Little Universe older $14.99 1,500 89% 45k $675k (exactly $674,550) Estoty
System Shock: Enhanced Edition older $9.99 1,781 91% 53k $534k (exactly $533,766) Looking Glass Studios, Nightdive Studios
Approaching Infinity $17.99 723 95% 22k $390k (exactly $390,203) IBOL
Fractal Block World older $6.99 1,486 98% 45k $312k (exactly $311,614) Dan Hathaway
Sketchy's Contract $8.99 1,027 83% 31k $277k (exactly $276,982) Dimensionless Games
Survivors of the Dawn · EA older $7.99 694 73% 21k $166k (exactly $166,352) indieGiant
Space Prison older $19.99 271 84% 8.1k $163k (exactly $162,519) Wooden Alien
Starward Rogue older $11.99 286 89% 8.6k $103k (exactly $102,874) Arcen Games
Cosmos point $12.99 79 79% 2.4k $31k (exactly $30,786) Anatoliy Sidorov
Colony 37 · EA $2.99 224 95% 6.7k $20k (exactly $20,093) Valen
Rocket Squad: Infinity $14.99 31 22% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) Jackto Studios
Dread Protocol · EA $7.99 24 83% 720 $5.8k (exactly $5,753) Meat Lab
Ark of Trisolar (三体方舟) $6.99 13 92% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Binary Studio
Deepfried in Deepspace $4.99 16 100% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) Medium Well Games
Exo Digger $4.99 14 14% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) TornaGames

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