Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Rhythm

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Rhythm game?

Grid-Based Movement + Rhythm

Only 14 developers shipped a Grid-Based Movement Rhythm 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, GRIDbeat!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $300 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 21 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 21 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Rhythm
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $478 → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Rhythm: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $300 (exactly $300)
Top 25% $599 (exactly $599)
Top 5% $56k (exactly $55,772)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 31
Announced 21
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 10% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, 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
Rhythm
effort 3 / 10 · medium · audio sync, timing precision and music rights

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement, Rhythm
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 98% positive over 137 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $300, 1 in 4 over $590, 1 in 20 over $55k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

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

FIGHT KNIGHT 2021 · $928k GRIDbeat! 2026 · $56k Temple Of Snek 2023 · $46k Dreamsweeper 2024 · $11k We See You 2022 · $2.9k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
FIGHT KNIGHT older $19.99 1,547 91% 46k $928k (exactly $927,736) Team Sorcerobe
GRIDbeat! $19.99 93 100% 2.8k $56k (exactly $55,772) Ridiculous Games
Temple Of Snek older $14.99 102 90% 3.1k $46k (exactly $45,869) Aetheric Games
Dreamsweeper older $9.99 38 76% 1.1k $11k (exactly $11,389) Etherlight, Oatmello
We See You older $6.99 14 100% 420 $2.9k (exactly $2,936) Paulius Giniotis
Travel On, Pigeon! $5.99 14 92% 420 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Fog Angler
Hush Hush High $5.99 8 87% 240 $1.4k (exactly $1,438) Bablabo Games, Hritik Dutta, Anushka Ka… (Bablabo Games, Hritik Dutta, Anushka Karmakar, Nimish Rohankar)
Spinning Maze older $1.99 13 92% 390 $776 (exactly $776) Meta Form
Stacker Puzzle older $1.99 12 100% 360 $716 (exactly $716) TooIzzi Games
Musical Maze $4.99 4 75% 120 $599 (exactly $599) FK games
Thirsty Bird · EA $1.99 8 100% 240 $478 (exactly $478) Ben Sulzinsky
Rogue Rhythm $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) SLASH@HEART
Triangles $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) DETUNE LTD
Yin Yang Fun $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) Lao Lai Le Studios
T-Drum $4.99 2 100% 60 $299 (exactly $299) LV Studio
Cadence $3.99 2 100% 60 $239 (exactly $239) BitShift_Games

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