Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Perma Death
Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Perma Death game?
Grid-Based Movement + Perma Death
Of 46 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Perma Death 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.. 84 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×218 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 84 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,092) |
| Top 5% | $103k (exactly $103,431) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 125 |
| Announced | 84 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Grid-Based Movement, Perma Death; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,713 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 84 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grid-Based Movement with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
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Comparable games
XCOM® 2 2016 · $48M 
NEO Scavenger 2014 · $2.0M 
Jupiter Hell 2021 · $1.3M 
Those Who Rule 2025 · $602k 
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) 2015 · $563k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | XCOM® 2 | older | $19.99 | 79,998 84% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,974,801) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | NEO Scavenger | older | $14.99 | 4,437 89% | 133k | $2.0M (exactly $1,995,319) | Blue Bottle Games |
| | Jupiter Hell | older | $24.99 | 1,795 91% | 54k | $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) | ChaosForge |
| | Those Who Rule | $17.99 | 1,116 89% | 33k | $602k (exactly $602,305) | Eldin Turulja | |
| | ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) | older | $14.99 | 1,253 86% | 38k | $563k (exactly $563,474) | Thomas Biskup, Jochen Terstiege, Zeno R… (Thomas Biskup, Jochen Terstiege, Zeno Rogue, Krzysztof Dycha, Lucas Dieguez) |
 | Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 518 91% | 16k | $311k (exactly $310,645) | VINE, Yacht Club Games |
 | House of Necrosis | $11.99 | 581 94% | 17k | $209k (exactly $208,986) | Warkus | |
 | For The Warp | older | $14.99 | 434 72% | 13k | $195k (exactly $195,170) | Massive Galaxy Studios |
 | Sproggiwood | older | $14.99 | 326 79% | 9.8k | $147k (exactly $146,602) | Freehold Games |
 | Jupiter Hell Classic | · EA | $14.99 | 230 95% | 6.9k | $103k (exactly $103,431) | ChaosForge |
 | Slot & Dungeons | $8.99 | 304 83% | 9.1k | $82k (exactly $81,989) | MUC GAMES | |
 | Lost In The Open | · EA | $15.99 | 160 61% | 4.8k | $77k (exactly $76,752) | Black Voyage Games |
 | Shuffle Tactics | $14.99 | 95 70% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $42,722) | Club Sandwich | |
 | Shadowed: The Demon Castle of Ooe | $15.99 | 56 92% | 1.7k | $27k (exactly $26,863) | Lab Rabbit Games ltd | |
 | Maze Keeper | $8.99 | 84 47% | 2.5k | $23k (exactly $22,655) | Spaceward Games | |
 | Once a Pawn a King | $11.99 | 54 55% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Clover Bite | |
 | SOG: Vietnam | $12.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $13k (exactly $12,860) | PigeonMakesGames, Games By Loki |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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