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Should I ship a Dungeon Crawler Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Dungeon Crawler
Of 84 developers who shipped a Dungeon Crawler Turn-Based 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.. 99 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $12k, ×19 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2111 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 99 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) |
|---|---|
| Median | $12k (exactly $11,873) |
| Top 25% | $103k (exactly $102,981) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 84 |
| Released games | 375 |
| Announced | 99 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $13.99 |
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 15% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- 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
- Turn-Based, Dungeon Crawler; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy
- Price point
- $13.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 42,812 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 6 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
Slay the Spire 2019 · $144M 
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M 
Stoneshard 2020 · EA · $26M 
9 Kings 2025 · EA · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slay the Spire | older | $24.99 | 191,765 97% | 5.8M | $144M (exactly $143,766,220) | Mega Crit |
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Stoneshard | · EA older | $24.99 | 34,149 74% | 1.0M | $26M (exactly $25,601,505) | Ink Stains Games |
| | 9 Kings | · EA | $19.99 | 21,352 92% | 641k | $13M (exactly $12,804,794) | Sad Socket |
 | Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus | older | $29.99 | 11,279 91% | 338k | $10M (exactly $10,147,716) | Bulwark Studios |
 | The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos | older | $34.99 | 6,895 87% | 207k | $7.2M (exactly $7,237,682) | Artefacts Studio |
 | Iratus: Lord of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $6.5M (exactly $6,483,238) | Unfrozen |
 | Across the Obelisk | older | $19.99 | 10,689 80% | 321k | $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) | Dreamsite Games |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | older | $39.99 | 5,131 94% | 154k | $6.2M (exactly $6,155,661) | Nihon Falcom |
 | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
 | Aethermancer | · EA | $25.99 | 2,585 91% | 78k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,524) | moi rai games |
 | Die in the Dungeon | $14.99 | 3,239 92% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,456,578) | ATICO | |
 | How Many Dudes? | $14.99 | 2,948 89% | 88k | $1.3M (exactly $1,325,716) | Butterscotch Shenanigans | |
 | Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked | $29.99 | 1,235 82% | 37k | $1.1M (exactly $1,111,130) | Resolution Games | |
 | Yao-Guai Hunter | $16.99 | 2,082 83% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,061,195) | MyACG Studio | |
 | Breachway | · EA | $19.99 | 1,419 74% | 43k | $851k (exactly $850,974) | Edgeflow Studio |
 | LONESTAR | $12.99 | 2,183 90% | 65k | $851k (exactly $850,715) | Math Tide | |
 | Deathless. The Hero Quest | $24.99 | 931 87% | 28k | $698k (exactly $697,971) | FOR-GAMES CR LTD |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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