Games › Exploration › Exploration + Sokoban
Should I ship an Exploration Sokoban?
Exploration + Sokoban
Of 50 developers who shipped an Exploration Sokoban 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.. 72 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $25k, ×53 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 72 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $6.9k (exactly $6,866) |
| Top 5% | $25k (exactly $25,299) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 130 |
| Announced | 72 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Sokoban
- effort 2 / 10 · high · grid pushing rules and level files
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Exploration, Sokoban; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Logic
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 639 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. Nearly all of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 72 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Void Stranger 2023 · $1.2M 
A Monster's Expedition 2020 · $956k 
Isles of Sea and Sky 2024 · $922k 
Paper Trail 2024 · $435k 
Paquerette Down the Bunburrows 2023 · $401k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Void Stranger | older | $11.99 | 3,307 91% | 99k | $1.2M (exactly $1,189,528) | System Erasure |
| | A Monster's Expedition | older | $19.99 | 1,594 94% | 48k | $956k (exactly $955,922) | Draknek & Friends |
| | Isles of Sea and Sky | older | $19.99 | 1,538 91% | 46k | $922k (exactly $922,339) | Cicada Games |
| | Paper Trail | older | $19.99 | 726 94% | 22k | $435k (exactly $435,382) | Newfangled Games |
| | Paquerette Down the Bunburrows | older | $11.99 | 1,115 96% | 33k | $401k (exactly $401,066) | Bunstack |
 | A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build | older | $14.99 | 679 96% | 20k | $305k (exactly $305,346) | Alan Hazelden, Benjamin Davis |
 | Ittle Dew | older | $19.99 | 481 92% | 14k | $288k (exactly $288,456) | Ludosity |
 | Linelith | older | $2.99 | 1,438 98% | 43k | $129k (exactly $128,989) | Patrick Traynor |
 | Seek Girl V | older | $1.99 | 920 72% | 28k | $55k (exactly $54,924) | DSGame |
 | Temple Of Snek | older | $14.99 | 102 90% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Aetheric Games |
 | Puzzle Depot | $19.99 | 61 100% | 1.8k | $37k (exactly $36,582) | Laughing Manatee Games | |
 | 4D Intuition | $14.99 | 67 100% | 2.0k | $30k (exactly $30,130) | Yu Gu (yugu233) | |
 | The Electrifying Incident: A Monster Mini-Expedition | $4.99 | 169 93% | 5.1k | $25k (exactly $25,299) | Draknek and Friends | |
 | Ligo | $14.99 | 54 100% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Anthony Berleur | |
 | AiliA | $11.99 | 66 89% | 2.0k | $24k (exactly $23,740) | IceToad Studio LLC | |
 | Slip 'n Slime | $9.99 | 76 94% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Wild Magic Studio | |
 | Sliding Hero | $14.99 | 42 88% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Silent Chicken | |
 | Glowkeeper | $14.99 | 42 97% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | oolimry, bucketfish | |
 | Cat Squeeze | $9.99 | 38 100% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,389) | Cattery Studio, Pone Games | |
 | Signal Maze | $14.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | theArkitect |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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