Do I ship it?

GamesDungeon CrawlerDungeon Crawler + Thriller

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Thriller Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Thriller

Of 45 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 46 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 46 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 85% on the market, 46 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Thriller
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $899 → $478 → $359 → $898 → $748 → $1.4k (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Thriller: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $716 (exactly $716)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,696)
Top 5% $45k (exactly $44,970)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 94
Announced 46
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 up 85% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Thriller
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 4,593 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $720, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $44k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

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. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  9. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  10. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  11. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced
  12. + Dating SimPoor odds17 devs · median $32k · 42 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
Subliminal $9.99 3,535 74% 106k $1.1M (exactly $1,059,440) Accidental Studios
消失的航班,还有她她她!Lost in the secret! $19.99 602 89% 18k $361k (exactly $361,019) Humongous Pictures
Veloria $14.99 100 89% 3.0k $45k (exactly $44,970) WANDERING WITCH PROIECTUM
NIGHT CROW older $15.99 85 68% 2.6k $41k (exactly $40,774) Ge-Aivan
Liminal Shroud $12.99 91 89% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,463) Everdeep Studios
Vessel $6.99 116 17% 3.5k $24k (exactly $24,325) OJStudio
ToruTaru · EA older $9.99 62 82% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,581) hiddenVisions
The 18th Floor older $14.99 26 53% 780 $12k (exactly $11,692) Aoga Games
Greenhouse $7.99 41 87% 1.2k $9.8k (exactly $9,828) 7D Games Studio
Pinku Kult Hex Mortis older $9.99 32 93% 960 $9.6k (exactly $9,590) Dream Oni, Valorware
CipherMind $7.99 18 77% 540 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Pigeon Games
Sundy Stairway $9.99 13 69% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Yun Seven
Jenny Love You $4.99 23 69% 690 $3.4k (exactly $3,443) Phantom Pixel
鬼灵的冒险GUILING's Adventure $1.99 54 94% 1.6k $3.2k (exactly $3,224) 硅晶石工作室Sicrystal Studio

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