Do I ship it?

GamesDungeon CrawlerDungeon Crawler + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Time Management

Of 35 developers who shipped a Time Management 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.. 44 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $7.0k, ×15 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $900. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 44 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 14.8 times the market baseline, revenue up 95% on the market, 44 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $100k → $22k → $7.0k → $10k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $898 (exactly $898)
Median $7.0k (exactly $7,015)
Top 25% $26k (exactly $26,374)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 54
Announced 44
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 95% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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
Time Management
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, Time Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 9,017 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $7.0k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 23 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. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  2. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  4. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  5. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  6. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  7. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 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
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
HellSlave II: Judgment of the Archon $19.99 316 77% 9.5k $190k (exactly $189,505) Ars Goetia
CiniCross $11.99 438 85% 13k $158k (exactly $157,549) Hydrobates
生嚿叉燒好過生你 $14.99 284 88% 8.5k $128k (exactly $127,715) 無厘頭遊戲工作室
Dungeon Dreams 2 older $19.99 209 90% 6.3k $125k (exactly $125,337) DDreams Games
GUARDS! older $9.99 418 68% 13k $125k (exactly $125,275) WYLDERZONE, Lowkey GameDev
Net.Attack() - Code or Die! $7.99 510 80% 15k $122k (exactly $122,247) ByteRockers' Games
Goblin Sushi · EA $9.99 404 89% 12k $121k (exactly $121,079) Old Cake Factory
LABYRINTHOS: The Depths Want You $24.99 57 84% 1.7k $43k (exactly $42,733) Astronauts
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Merchant in Dungeon $8.99 84 76% 2.5k $23k (exactly $22,655) HexGameStudio

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