Do I ship it?

Games › Loot › Loot + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Grid-Based Movement game?

Loot + Grid-Based Movement

Only 18 developers shipped a Loot 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, ANIWARS: Call of the Void, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 39 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $71k, ×114 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 39 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 39 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $26k → $3.1k → $1.2k → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,055)
Top 5% $72k (exactly $71,705)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 50
Announced 39
Effort 5 / 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 down 45% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Grid-Based Movement; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Roguelike, Turn-Based Combat
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 301 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $3.0k, 1 in 20 over $71k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dungeonmans 2014 · $490k Dungeon Drafters 2023 · $422k Potato Flowers in Full Bloom 2022 · $353k Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls 2020 · $200k Sproggiwood 2014 · $147k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dungeonmans older $14.99 1,089 90% 33k $490k (exactly $489,723) Adventurepro Games LLC
Dungeon Drafters older $24.99 563 76% 17k $422k (exactly $422,081) Manalith Studios
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom older $17.99 654 95% 20k $353k (exactly $352,964) Pon Pon Games
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls older $14.99 444 70% 13k $200k (exactly $199,667) ACQUIRE Corp.
Sproggiwood older $14.99 326 79% 9.8k $147k (exactly $146,602) Freehold Games
Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World older $19.99 184 82% 5.5k $110k (exactly $110,345) AQUAPLUS
ANIWARS: Call of the Void · EA $12.99 184 93% 5.5k $72k (exactly $71,705) Breaker Interactive
Terra Randoma older $14.99 146 87% 4.4k $66k (exactly $65,656) Deniz K.
Zavix Tower older $9.99 174 63% 5.2k $52k (exactly $52,148) Batholith Entertainment
VERLIES II older $7.99 115 60% 3.5k $28k (exactly $27,566) Koya Game
Babel of Ystilia $7.99 26 100% 780 $6.2k (exactly $6,232) sundalik
Dice Goblin's Den $11.99 17 94% 510 $6.1k (exactly $6,115) babachoo
New Meat $4.99 21 100% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) Alex Lemley
Petrified Pawns $5.99 17 88% 510 $3.1k (exactly $3,055) Bepansrad Studio
babe-lathe $6.99 11 100% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) tjern
Theralite $10.99 6 100% 180 $2.0k (exactly $1,978) DualBitz
Asterogue $5.99 8 100% 240 $1.4k (exactly $1,438) Chris McCormick
Rogue Descent $9.99 4 100% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Kudos
Arena Monarchy · EA $4.99 7 100% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Kevin Zhang

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