Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Visual Novel
Of 63 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×234 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 66 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,700) |
| Top 25% | $31k (exactly $30,826) |
| Top 5% | $111k (exactly $110,956) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 63 |
| Released games | 167 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, JRPG
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 4,240 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dungeon Crawler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Time ManagementFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiceFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Word GameFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + DwarvesPoor odds
Comparable games
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk 2018 · $2.0M 
Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- 2018 · $1.8M 
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning 2019 · $1.2M 
Sex with the Devil 2021 · $1.1M 
Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment 2018 · $1.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk | older | $49.99 | 1,311 79% | 39k | $2.0M (exactly $1,966,107) | Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. |
| | Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- | older | $34.99 | 1,734 93% | 52k | $1.8M (exactly $1,820,180) | AQUASTYLE |
| | Zanki Zero: Last Beginning | older | $59.99 | 650 77% | 20k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,805) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | Sex with the Devil | older | $7.99 | 4,740 76% | 142k | $1.1M (exactly $1,136,178) | Evil Boobs Cult |
| | Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment | older | $19.99 | 1,862 78% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,116,641) | AQURIA Co., Ltd. |
 | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
 | Sakura Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 1,374 91% | 41k | $824k (exactly $823,988) | Winged Cloud |
 | Omega Labyrinth Life | older | $59.99 | 263 64% | 7.9k | $473k (exactly $473,321) | Matrix |
 | Mary Skelter: Nightmares | older | $24.99 | 541 82% | 16k | $406k (exactly $405,588) | Idea Factory |
 | Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate | older | $39.99 | 329 43% | 9.9k | $395k (exactly $394,701) | MAGES. Inc. |
 | 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 | |
 | Starlight Revolver | · EA | $12.99 | 404 54% | 12k | $157k (exactly $157,439) | Pahdo Labs |
 | Wander Stars | $24.99 | 148 92% | 4.4k | $111k (exactly $110,956) | Paper Castle Games | |
 | Sinners Landing | $19.99 | 180 86% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Flexible Media | |
 | Death end re;Quest: Code Z | $39.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $70k (exactly $69,583) | Idea Factory, Compile Heart | |
 | Sexorcism: Lust Confession | $7.99 | 277 70% | 8.3k | $66k (exactly $66,397) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | Shadow Lotus | $14.99 | 136 70% | 4.1k | $61k (exactly $61,159) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | Immortal Hunters | $19.99 | 95 67% | 2.9k | $57k (exactly $56,971) | Admiral Games | |
 | Isekai Reincarnation Magic Cock | $19.99 | 95 80% | 2.9k | $57k (exactly $56,971) | umyn |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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