Games › Exploration › Exploration + Music-Based Procedural Generation
Should I ship an Exploration Music-Based Procedural Generation game?
Exploration + Music-Based Procedural Generation
Only 11 developers shipped an Exploration Music-Based Procedural Generation 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, Enigma of Fear, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×5768 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 25 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) |
| Top 25% | $1.6k (exactly $1,618) |
| Top 5% | $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- Music-Based Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Music-Based Procedural Generation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 95% positive over 3,210 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 6 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Exploration with a different second tag, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Enigma of Fear | $29.99 | 3,045 95% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,739,586) | Dumativa, Cellbit | |
| | Mutazione | older | $19.99 | 1,123 95% | 34k | $673k (exactly $673,463) | Die Gute Fabrik |
| | Beat Hazard 3 | older | $19.99 | 586 84% | 18k | $351k (exactly $351,424) | Cold Beam Games |
| | A Highland Song | older | $17.99 | 553 87% | 17k | $298k (exactly $298,454) | inkle Ltd |
| | Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 | older | $9.99 | 533 98% | 16k | $160k (exactly $159,740) | Cosmo D |
| | ODDADA | older | $9.99 | 335 96% | 10k | $100k (exactly $100,400) | Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Basti… (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff) |
| | Mix Universe | · EA older | $14.99 | 113 95% | 3.4k | $51k (exactly $50,816) | Chris Zukowski |
| | Fragrance Point | $8.00 | 113 96% | 3.4k | $27k (exactly $27,120) | Halber Ball | |
| | Expand | older | $5.99 | 119 91% | 3.6k | $21k (exactly $21,384) | Chris Johnson, Chris Larkin |
| | Seashell | older | $3.99 | 139 96% | 4.2k | $17k (exactly $16,638) | High Tea Frog |
| | Motel Nightmares | $8.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $1.6k (exactly $1,618) | KOZARI | |
| | Turbotz Testing 20XX | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | Zed-ex | |
| | Ovation | $4.99 | 8 50% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | C.K. Games | |
| | Shy Cats Hidden Orchestra 2 - The Return | $5.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.1k (exactly $1,078) | Enchant Games | |
| | Grubby Fingers | $2.00 | 17 88% | 510 | $1.0k (exactly $1,020) | tober | |
| | T-Drum | $4.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | LV Studio | |
| | Final Forge | · EA | $2.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | OPS Game Studio |
| | Sparrow Country | · EA | $6.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Binary Gauss Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.