Games › Exploration › Exploration + Dwarves
Should I ship a Dwarf Exploration game?
Exploration + Dwarves
Only 15 developers shipped a Dwarf Exploration game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $12M, ×20127 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,168) |
| Top 25% | $233k (exactly $233,283) |
| Top 5% | $13M (exactly $12,639,885) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 80% on the market, supply 300% 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.
- Exploration
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Dwarves
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Exploration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action RPG, Action Roguelike
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 64% positive over 16,612 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 37 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + SpaceshipsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + WuxiaPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + FMVPoor odds
- + FarmingPoor odds
Comparable games
Deep Rock Galactic 2020 · $273M 
Dwarf Fortress 2022 · $26M 
Pillars of Eternity 2015 · $15M 
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core 2026 · EA · $13M 
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ 2024 · $9.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Deep Rock Galactic | older | $29.99 | 303,142 97% | 9.1M | $273M (exactly $272,736,857) | Ghost Ship Games |
| | Dwarf Fortress | older | $29.99 | 29,303 94% | 879k | $26M (exactly $26,363,909) | Bay 12 Games |
| | Pillars of Eternity | older | $29.99 | 16,990 87% | 510k | $15M (exactly $15,285,903) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| | Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core | · EA | $29.99 | 14,049 60% | 421k | $13M (exactly $12,639,885) | Ghost Ship Games |
| | The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™ | older | $29.99 | 10,242 80% | 307k | $9.2M (exactly $9,214,727) | Free Range Games |
 | Might & Magic X - Legacy | older | $29.99 | 3,178 65% | 95k | $2.9M (exactly $2,859,247) | Ubisoft |
 | Sacred Gold | older | $9.99 | 3,995 84% | 120k | $1.2M (exactly $1,197,302) | Studio II |
 | Regions Of Ruin | older | $11.99 | 1,972 84% | 59k | $709k (exactly $709,328) | Gameclaw Studio |
 | Orebound | · EA | $24.99 | 945 77% | 28k | $708k (exactly $708,466) | Emberforge |
 | We Are The Dwarves | older | $14.99 | 1,072 75% | 32k | $482k (exactly $482,078) | Whale Rock Games |
 | Stonewards | · EA | $9.99 | 806 94% | 24k | $242k (exactly $241,558) | Banana Tiger Studio |
 | Regions of Ruin: Runegate | $19.99 | 389 84% | 12k | $233k (exactly $233,283) | Gameclaw Studio | |
 | Hold The Mine | · EA | $14.99 | 338 83% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,999) | Hookaria Games |
 | OREBLAZE | $4.99 | 64 92% | 1.9k | $9.6k (exactly $9,581) | Ludiminal Games | |
 | Seeker of the Ruins | $8.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) | LionEY Games | |
 | Diggy Diggy Mole | $9.73 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,168) | Novasplore Games | |
 | Dwarf Guild Mania | $6.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Quarkblue | |
 | Dwarf Core | $4.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | IncludeSpark |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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