Do I ship it?

GamesGrid-Based MovementGrid-Based Movement + Hacking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hacking Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Hacking

Only 14 developers shipped a Hacking Grid-Based Movement 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, GRIDbeat!, 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.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 4315% on the market; 11 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 4315% on the market, 11 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Hacking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Hacking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $5.4k (exactly $5,396)
Top 5% $56k (exactly $55,772)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 28
Announced 11
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 4315% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Hacking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Puzzle, Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 222 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $720, 1 in 4 over $5.3k, 1 in 20 over $55k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 11 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  8. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  9. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  10. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  11. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced
  12. + RomanceLong shot6 devs · median $300 · 9 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Conglomerate 451 older $19.99 145 62% 4.4k $87k (exactly $86,956) RuneHeads
GRIDbeat! $19.99 93 100% 2.8k $56k (exactly $55,772) Ridiculous Games
NET.CRAWL $9.99 46 95% 1.4k $14k (exactly $13,786) Everyone is Solid
Kinetype · EA $6.99 36 83% 1.1k $7.5k (exactly $7,549) Morlytic
NULLPTR $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Jeferson Silva
Dataminers $6.99 21 95% 630 $4.4k (exactly $4,404) Electrocosmos
Markov Alg older $2.99 25 96% 750 $2.2k (exactly $2,242) Fewjix
Monster Logic older $4.99 11 81% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) Blorp Company
Sketchbots older $9.99 5 100% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) Quarc Games
Lost Recall older $2.99 12 100% 360 $1.1k (exactly $1,076) Combo Gravity
GRID/ $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) NoeNoe Games
Disintegral $11.99 2 100% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Will Sykes Games
Questy Chess $5.99 4 100% 120 $719 (exactly $719) Dadako
DoomWall $2.99 2 100% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Berlingot D'Or
ANARKO ZMEU $4.99 1 100% 30 $150 (exactly $150) TotallyNotReptillian

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.