Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Sokoban

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Sokoban?

Grid-Based Movement + Sokoban

Of 143 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Sokoban 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.. 135 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $660, ×1.4 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 135 games are announced against 76 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 135 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Sokoban
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 143
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.6k → $3.0k → $898 → $898 → $449 → $598 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Sokoban: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 143
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $657 (exactly $657)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 5% $22k (exactly $21,878)
Developers, 2 yr 143
Released games 402
Announced 135
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 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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
Sokoban
effort 2 / 10 · high · grid pushing rules and level files

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement, Sokoban; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Logic, Strategy
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Top-Down
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 97% positive over 1,102 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $660, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $21k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. Nearly all of the 72 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 76 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. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  9. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  10. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 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

Can of Wormholes 2023 · $338k Maxwell's puzzling demon 2024 · $186k Bonfire Peaks 2021 · $170k About Love, Hate and the other ones 2014 · $150k Gentoo Rescue 2025 · $142k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Can of Wormholes older $19.99 563 99% 17k $338k (exactly $337,631) munted finger
Maxwell's puzzling demon older $14.99 413 98% 12k $186k (exactly $185,726) muratsubo Games
Bonfire Peaks older $19.99 284 93% 8.5k $170k (exactly $170,315) Corey Martin, Alan Hazelden, Mari Zand,… (Corey Martin, Alan Hazelden, Mari Zand, Zach Soares)
About Love, Hate and the other ones older $7.99 626 90% 19k $150k (exactly $150,052) Black Pants Studio
Gentoo Rescue $19.99 237 99% 7.1k $142k (exactly $142,129) Jagriff
Linelith older $2.99 1,438 98% 43k $129k (exactly $128,989) Patrick Traynor
Treasure 'n Trio $14.99 242 100% 7.3k $109k (exactly $108,827) TNT
Drag and Drop Medieval older $29.99 91 85% 2.7k $82k (exactly $81,873) Galactic Geckon
DUSK '82: ULTIMATE EDITION older $6.99 383 95% 11k $80k (exactly $80,315) David Szymanski
Larcin Lazer older $9.99 241 99% 7.2k $72k (exactly $72,228) Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini
Loophole $9.99 154 99% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Levi Pinkert
Puzzle Depot $19.99 61 100% 1.8k $37k (exactly $36,582) Laughing Manatee Games
Toroban $20.00 60 86% 1.8k $36k (exactly $36,000) Hebert Games LLC
HAMSTERMIND $12.99 73 97% 2.2k $28k (exactly $28,448) Righteous Tree
AiliA $11.99 66 89% 2.0k $24k (exactly $23,740) IceToad Studio LLC
Sokogram $9.99 73 94% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,878) PressGtoGeorge
Slayaway Camp 2 $12.99 49 93% 1.5k $19k (exactly $19,095) Blue Wizard Digital
Prickle $6.99 87 100% 2.6k $18k (exactly $18,244) Sunbird Studio

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