Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Horror

Of 26 developers who shipped a Horror Grid-Based Movement game 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.. 47 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.8k, ×10 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×341 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 47 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 47 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $20k → $16k → $19k → $3.1k → $4.8k → $809 (still earning) → $13k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $4.8k (exactly $4,795)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $26,986)
Top 5% $162k (exactly $162,132)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 68
Announced 47
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 100% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Horror
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Grid-Based Movement; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Turn-Based Combat, Dungeon Crawler
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.49 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Dark, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.49 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,900 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $4.8k, 1 in 4 over $26k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

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. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hard West 2 2022 · $2.4M Jupiter Hell 2021 · $1.3M Zanki Zero: Last Beginning 2019 · $1.2M Lara Croft GO 2016 · $981k House of Necrosis 2025 · $209k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hard West 2 older $29.99 2,717 80% 82k $2.4M (exactly $2,444,485) Ice Code Games
Jupiter Hell older $24.99 1,795 91% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) ChaosForge
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning older $59.99 650 77% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,169,805) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Lara Croft GO older $9.99 3,274 94% 98k $981k (exactly $981,218) Square Enix Montréal
House of Necrosis $11.99 581 94% 17k $209k (exactly $208,986) Warkus
Save Room - Organization Puzzle older $2.99 2,033 97% 61k $182k (exactly $182,360) Fractal Projects
THYSIASTERY $17.49 309 80% 9.3k $162k (exactly $162,132) DIRGA
Tower of Mask $10.99 357 95% 11k $118k (exactly $117,703) Papertip Studio
Dungeon Of Dragon Knight older $11.99 315 74% 9.5k $113k (exactly $113,306) HexGameStudio
Jupiter Hell Classic · EA $14.99 230 95% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) ChaosForge
REPOSE $7.99 148 93% 4.4k $35k (exactly $35,476) Bozó Attila Bertold
Revelatio $10.99 86 91% 2.6k $28k (exactly $28,354) Guild Studio
Ex Sanguis · EA $19.99 45 77% 1.4k $27k (exactly $26,986) Lightbulb Crew
Slayaway Camp 2 $12.99 49 93% 1.5k $19k (exactly $19,095) Blue Wizard Digital
Board Game Society $14.99 29 62% 870 $13k (exactly $13,041) Jetebra Games
Deadzoned · EA $4.99 66 98% 2.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,880) caiys

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