Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Platformer?

Grid-Based Movement + Platformer

Of 23 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Platformer 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.. 18 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 18 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 45% on the market, 18 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $4.5k → $1.5k → $657 → $449 → $748 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $1.5k (exactly $1,498)
Top 5% $3.6k (exactly $3,568)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 70
Announced 18
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 45% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Platformer
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, Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, 3D Platformer, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 3D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 184 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $540, 1 in 4 over $1.4k, 1 in 20 over $3.5k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different second tag, 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. + 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

Lara Croft GO 2016 · $981k About Love, Hate and the other ones 2014 · $150k Drag and Drop Medieval 2024 · $82k The Last Cube 2022 · $77k Axyz 2025 · $43k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lara Croft GO older $9.99 3,274 94% 98k $981k (exactly $981,218) Square Enix Montréal
About Love, Hate and the other ones older $7.99 626 90% 19k $150k (exactly $150,052) Black Pants Studio
Drag and Drop Medieval older $29.99 91 85% 2.7k $82k (exactly $81,873) Galactic Geckon
The Last Cube older $19.99 129 96% 3.9k $77k (exactly $77,361) Improx Games
Axyz $11.99 120 99% 3.6k $43k (exactly $43,164) Space Lion Studios
Meet me at NooN older $9.99 55 100% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Pandaroo Interactive
Doomsday Vault older $8.99 32 68% 960 $8.6k (exactly $8,630) Flightless
Rob Riches older $6.99 30 93% 900 $6.3k (exactly $6,291) Megapop
Super Retro BoxBot older $9.99 15 100% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Joseph Holliday
Red's Kingdom older $9.99 13 92% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Cobra Mobile
Mirage: Ignis Fatuus $16.99 7 85% 210 $3.6k (exactly $3,568) Illam
SEBI 16 $7.99 13 100% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) Sebastian Lind
babe-lathe $6.99 11 100% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) tjern
BarrelBots $14.99 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) FidgetBear Games
Mr.Robbo $9.99 5 40% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) It8bit Club
Tetro Runner $9.99 5 100% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) Rollmop Games Studio
GraviChess $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Lumpy Software
O.W.L Projekt 2 $1.99 11 81% 330 $657 (exactly $657) Sagitta Studios
GunBlocks · EA $6.99 3 100% 90 $629 (exactly $629) Steve Welz

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