Do I ship it?

GamesGrid-Based MovementGrid-Based Movement + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Dystopian

Only 10 developers shipped a Dystopian Grid-Based Movement 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, REPOSE, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 27 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180, ×0.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 27 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper, while revenue is down 80% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 27 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $959 (exactly $959)
Top 5% $35k (exactly $35,476)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 30
Announced 27
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Grid-Based Movement
Price point
$5.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 7 games average 94% positive over 172 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $180, 1 in 4 over $950, 1 in 20 over $35k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 27 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Capes older $39.99 446 67% 13k $535k (exactly $535,066) Spitfire Interactive
Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle older $16.99 108 74% 3.2k $55k (exactly $55,048) 68k Studios
REPOSE $7.99 148 93% 4.4k $35k (exactly $35,476) Bozó Attila Bertold
StarCrawlers Chimera older $19.99 43 69% 1.3k $26k (exactly $25,787) Juggernaut Games
Nomads of the Fallen Star older $12.99 37 70% 1.1k $14k (exactly $14,419) Huy Phan
Obscurant older $14.99 20 100% 600 $9.0k (exactly $8,994) King Brick Games
Days of Doom older $29.99 9 33% 270 $8.1k (exactly $8,097) SneakyBox
The Godkiller - Chapter 1 older $19.99 11 90% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) Seespace Labs
NULLPTR $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Jeferson Silva
Magirune 2 older $4.99 36 100% 1.1k $5.4k (exactly $5,389) Fluffy Lotus
Business Defence $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Bachgen Business Boy
Questy Chess $5.99 4 100% 120 $719 (exactly $719) Dadako
DoomWall $2.99 2 100% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Berlingot D'Or
Killest Fights CRAW-Mech $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) KGamer1, CartMart
Cyber Sprinters $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) Low-Poly Arcade
UHILANT $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) BoVtik
SCI±FL $1.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) muppetbongos
Voluntary Isolation $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) AkadTheFox

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