Games › Exploration › Exploration + Runner
Should I ship an Exploration Runner?
Exploration + Runner
Of 131 developers who shipped an Exploration Runner 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.. 141 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 61 developers shipped in the last year and 141 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $1.3k (exactly $1,254) |
| Top 5% | $22k (exactly $22,491) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 368 |
| Announced | 141 |
| 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 up 45% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Runner
- 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, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 13,755 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 88 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 141 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
Haste 2025 · $7.6M 
Phantom Abyss 2024 · $1.2M 
Last Room 2021 · $857k 
ALTF4 2021 · $848k 
Shio 2017 · $457k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Haste | $19.99 | 12,690 92% | 381k | $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) | Landfall | |
| | Phantom Abyss | older | $19.99 | 1,962 81% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,176,611) | Team WIBY |
| | Last Room | older | $29.99 | 953 73% | 29k | $857k (exactly $857,414) | Quantum Forge Studios |
| | ALTF4 | older | $2.99 | 9,452 80% | 284k | $848k (exactly $847,844) | PUMPKIM |
| | Shio | older | $11.99 | 1,270 78% | 38k | $457k (exactly $456,819) | Coconut Island Studio |
 | TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight | older | $19.99 | 529 75% | 16k | $317k (exactly $317,241) | Orbital Express |
 | VR Skater | older | $19.99 | 222 86% | 6.7k | $133k (exactly $133,133) | DEFICIT Games |
 | The Fancy Pants Adventures: Classic Pack | · EA older | $9.99 | 414 84% | 12k | $124k (exactly $124,076) | Borne Games |
 | Relooted | $14.99 | 257 87% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Nyamakop | |
 | Hans | older | $4.99 | 741 85% | 22k | $111k (exactly $110,928) | at0m |
 | Rocket Boots Mania | $14.99 | 229 99% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $102,981) | Luma Play | |
 | Ikarus Parkour | $12.99 | 195 81% | 5.9k | $76k (exactly $75,992) | Vanja Aleksić | |
 | JETRUNNER | $9.99 | 118 96% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,365) | Riddlebit Software | |
 | Care Bears: To The Rescue | $14.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Polygoat | |
 | Sex on the beach | $24.99 | 30 63% | 900 | $22k (exactly $22,491) | Games For Pleasure | |
 | Zardy's Cave | $7.99 | 84 80% | 2.5k | $20k (exactly $20,135) | Full Trek Media | |
 | HoloRun | $4.99 | 76 57% | 2.3k | $11k (exactly $11,377) | Pixfox | |
 | Memori | · EA | $14.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $9.9k (exactly $9,893) | PracticalNPC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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