Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Puzzle game?

Grid-Based Movement + Puzzle

Of 424 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Puzzle 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.. 418 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $25k, ×53 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 418 games are announced against 240 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 418 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 424
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $987 → $1.1k → $718 → $838 → $718 → $359 → $300 (still earning) → $130 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 424
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 5% $25k (exactly $25,179)
Developers, 2 yr 424
Released games 1,196
Announced 418
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 down 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Strategy, Sokoban
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 6,655 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 $450, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $25k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. Nearly all of the 206 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 418 games are announced against 240 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. + 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

Legend of Grimrock 2 2014 · $2.2M Legend of Grimrock 2012 · $2.2M Sol Cesto 2026 · $2.0M Lara Croft GO 2016 · $981k FIGHT KNIGHT 2021 · $928k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Legend of Grimrock 2 older $23.99 3,065 90% 92k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,880) Almost Human Games
Legend of Grimrock older $14.99 4,844 93% 145k $2.2M (exactly $2,178,347) Almost Human Games
Sol Cesto $13.99 4,838 91% 145k $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale)
Lara Croft GO older $9.99 3,274 94% 98k $981k (exactly $981,218) Square Enix Montréal
FIGHT KNIGHT older $19.99 1,547 91% 46k $928k (exactly $927,736) Team Sorcerobe
Vaporum older $19.99 998 84% 30k $599k (exactly $598,501) Fatbot Games, s. r. o.
Operencia: The Stolen Sun older $29.99 537 76% 16k $483k (exactly $483,139) Zen Studios
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom older $17.99 654 95% 20k $353k (exactly $352,964) Pon Pon Games
Can of Wormholes older $19.99 563 99% 17k $338k (exactly $337,631) munted finger
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon older $19.99 518 91% 16k $311k (exactly $310,645) VINE, Yacht Club Games
Gentoo Rescue $19.99 237 99% 7.1k $142k (exactly $142,129) Jagriff
Tower of Mask $10.99 357 95% 11k $118k (exactly $117,703) Papertip Studio
GRIDROAD $9.99 385 82% 12k $115k (exactly $115,384) RAJACORP
Treasure 'n Trio $14.99 242 100% 7.3k $109k (exactly $108,827) TNT
文字遊戯(日本語版) $34.99 74 90% 2.2k $78k (exactly $77,678) Team9, ESQUADRA,inc.
Mythmatch $19.99 124 98% 3.7k $74k (exactly $74,363) Team Artichoke
GRIDbeat! $19.99 93 100% 2.8k $56k (exactly $55,772) Ridiculous Games
Loophole $9.99 154 99% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Levi Pinkert
Blobun $9.99 151 99% 4.5k $45k (exactly $45,255) CyanSorcery

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