Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Score Attack game?

Grid-Based Movement + Score Attack

Of 71 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Score Attack 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.. 51 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 50 developers shipped in the last year and 51 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 30% on the market, 51 announced, ×1.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 71
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $1.1k → $267 → $479 → $150 → $150 → $60 (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 71
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $120 (exactly $120)
Top 25% $748 (exactly $748)
Top 5% $17k (exactly $17,089)
Developers, 2 yr 71
Released games 146
Announced 51
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 30% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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
Score Attack
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, Score Attack; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Arcade, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 871 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $120, 1 in 4 over $740, 1 in 20 over $17k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 50 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

GRIDROAD 2024 · $115k Dungeon Deathball 2021 · $69k KAZ 2026 · $30k BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary 2025 · $19k I, Robot 2025 · $17k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
GRIDROAD $9.99 385 82% 12k $115k (exactly $115,384) RAJACORP
Dungeon Deathball older $11.99 193 95% 5.8k $69k (exactly $69,422) Matt Glanville
KAZ $6.99 143 94% 4.3k $30k (exactly $29,987) Kalinarm
BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary $19.99 31 83% 930 $19k (exactly $18,591) BBG Entertainment GmbH
I, Robot $14.99 38 92% 1.1k $17k (exactly $17,089) Llamasoft Ltd.
WORMHOLE $9.99 51 98% 1.5k $15k (exactly $15,285) Pocket Moon Games, ThanaThan
Word Puzzle Master $2.49 144 82% 4.3k $11k (exactly $10,757) Tilewise
Writer's Block $9.99 34 94% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) SinksAdventure
Threes! older $5.99 56 96% 1.7k $10k (exactly $10,063) Asher Vollmer, Greg Wohlwend, BigGiantC… (Asher Vollmer, Greg Wohlwend, BigGiantCircles)
Towers of Scale · EA $9.99 26 100% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Makiki
Dominocalypse $11.99 11 100% 330 $4.0k (exactly $3,957) Barely Cohesive Games, LLC
Dicetris $14.99 8 100% 240 $3.6k (exactly $3,598) LEIK

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