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Should I ship an Exploration Mystery Dungeon?
Exploration + Mystery Dungeon
Of 193 developers who shipped an Exploration Mystery Dungeon 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.. 289 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×346 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 289 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $148 (exactly $148) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,594) |
| Top 5% | $164k (exactly $164,426) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 193 |
| Released games | 543 |
| Announced | 289 |
| 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 up 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Mystery Dungeon; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 16,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 106 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 289 games are announced against 105 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Elin 2024 · EA · $5.0M 
Reventure 2019 · $3.1M 
The Classrooms 2022 · EA · $1.2M 
In Verbis Virtus 2015 · $878k 
Stonemachia 2026 · $746k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Elin | · EA | $19.99 | 8,406 93% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) | Lafrontier |
| | Reventure | older | $12.34 | 8,451 95% | 254k | $3.1M (exactly $3,128,560) | Pixelatto |
| | The Classrooms | · EA older | $12.99 | 3,040 89% | 91k | $1.2M (exactly $1,184,688) | Xefier Games, Hillcrest Games Inc. |
| | In Verbis Virtus | older | $19.99 | 1,464 78% | 44k | $878k (exactly $877,961) | Indomitus Games |
| | Stonemachia | $19.99 | 1,244 95% | 37k | $746k (exactly $746,027) | Crossfall Games | |
 | FALL IN LABYRINTH | older | $19.99 | 1,073 95% | 32k | $643k (exactly $643,478) | JUKKAKU GAMES |
 | Spark in the Dark | · EA | $16.99 | 1,174 87% | 35k | $598k (exactly $598,388) | Stellar Fish |
 | We Are The Dwarves | older | $14.99 | 1,072 75% | 32k | $482k (exactly $482,078) | Whale Rock Games |
 | Skull Horde | $12.99 | 1,083 81% | 32k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | 8BitSkull | |
 | The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians - Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 625 83% | 19k | $375k (exactly $374,812) | Mana Games |
 | EXD - Extra Dimensional | $29.99 | 316 82% | 9.5k | $284k (exactly $284,305) | Lords of Illusion | |
 | The Coma 2B: Catacomb | $14.99 | 584 75% | 18k | $263k (exactly $262,625) | Dvora Studio Co., Ltd. | |
 | TRADESMAN: Deal to Dealer | $4.99 | 1,528 78% | 46k | $229k (exactly $228,742) | AZAMATIKA | |
 | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
 | Unmourned | $24.99 | 258 79% | 7.7k | $193k (exactly $193,423) | Codebros Studio | |
 | PIT OF GOBLIN | · EA | $5.99 | 915 84% | 27k | $164k (exactly $164,426) | Friendly Foe |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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