Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Robots

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Robot Grid-Based Movement game?

Grid-Based Movement + Robots

Of 28 developers who shipped a Robot Grid-Based Movement 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.. 36 more are announced.

Verdict: long shot, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240, ×0.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $26k, ×43 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 36 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 36 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Robots
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $1.8k → $179 → $3.1k → $179 → $809 (still earning) → $2.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Robots: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Top 5% $27k (exactly $26,863)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 84
Announced 36
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 up 35% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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
Robots
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Grid-Based Movement; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Arcade
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Stylized, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 291 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 $240, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $26k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different setting or mood, 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

The Last Cube 2022 · $77k Icaria 2026 · $59k One-inch Tactics 2024 · $53k Tactical Annihilation 2026 · $27k StarCrawlers Chimera 2024 · $26k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Last Cube older $19.99 129 96% 3.9k $77k (exactly $77,361) Improx Games
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
One-inch Tactics older $19.99 88 94% 2.6k $53k (exactly $52,774) KOGADO STUDIO
Tactical Annihilation $15.99 56 98% 1.7k $27k (exactly $26,863) B.G. Game Studio
StarCrawlers Chimera older $19.99 43 69% 1.3k $26k (exactly $25,787) Juggernaut Games
I, Robot $14.99 38 92% 1.1k $17k (exactly $17,089) Llamasoft Ltd.
ALAN-13 Reformation older $15.99 34 82% 1.0k $16k (exactly $16,310) Viktor Kovács
Keen: One Girl Army older $4.99 95 92% 2.9k $14k (exactly $14,222) Cat Nigiri
Temporal Titans · EA $9.99 44 95% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Lost Tower Games
Endhall older $2.99 111 84% 3.3k $10k (exactly $9,957) Heartbeast
Keyboard Warrior $4.99 34 97% 1.0k $5.1k (exactly $5,090) Grouch, SuitNtie
SirKwitz 2 $8.99 14 100% 420 $3.8k (exactly $3,776) Predict Edumedia
Hexitten $14.99 7 100% 210 $3.1k (exactly $3,148) Korkea Maki Studios
Karakurium $12.99 8 100% 240 $3.1k (exactly $3,118) Karaku Lab
Tiny Circuits $9.99 7 100% 210 $2.1k (exactly $2,098) Cromware LLC
Totally Defenceless $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) render

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