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Should I ship a Physics Escape Room game?
Physics + Escape Room
Only 13 developers shipped a Physics Escape Room 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, Together: Moon Escape, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 11 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×414 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 11 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $600 (exactly $600) |
| Top 25% | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) |
| Top 5% | $260k (exactly $260,140) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 11 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Escape Room
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Escape Room; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Puzzle, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, Linear
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 922 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 11 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Together: Moon Escape 2026 · $260k 
The Escaper 2020 · $87k 
Dr Livingstone, I Presume? Reversed Escape Room 2021 · $52k 
Nevrosa: Escape 2017 · $46k 
Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 80's 2019 · $25k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
| | The Escaper | older | $3.99 | 729 93% | 22k | $87k (exactly $87,261) | Nocturnal works |
| | Dr Livingstone, I Presume? Reversed Escape Room | older | $14.99 | 115 73% | 3.5k | $52k (exactly $51,716) | Vulpesoft |
| | Nevrosa: Escape | older | $14.99 | 103 79% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $46,319) | GexagonVR |
| | Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 80's | older | $9.99 | 82 92% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | LunaBeat |
 | The Atlas Mystery: A VR Puzzle Game | older | $14.99 | 47 87% | 1.4k | $21k (exactly $21,136) | Top Right Corner |
 | Paranormal Detective: Escape from the 90's | older | $11.99 | 53 79% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,064) | LunaBeat |
 | Stocksynd House | older | $7.99 | 53 83% | 1.6k | $13k (exactly $12,704) | CyberFlux Games, Gabro Media |
 | Area 86 | older | $9.99 | 23 73% | 690 | $6.9k (exactly $6,893) | SimDevs |
 | ENDLOOP | older | $3.99 | 48 62% | 1.4k | $5.7k (exactly $5,746) | Icehelm |
 | Project 7: Escape Room | $6.99 | 19 47% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | M9 Games | |
 | 电梯 Elevator | · EA | $5.99 | 15 40% | 450 | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) | BS Studio |
 | Whitematter | $12.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) | Exothermic Games | |
 | Crossed Wires | $11.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Aleth Labs | |
 | Klobgniak | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Askaspras | |
 | Tammuz: Blood & Sand | $19.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | Bad GOAT Studio, Clover Bite | |
 | Dear Lighthouse | $5.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $539 (exactly $539) | NLX2 | |
 | Escape Together: Secrets of the Professor | $4.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | TeNiTinyGames | |
 | Prison Out | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | LOOSE CREATE |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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