Do I ship it?

Games › Survival › Survival + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Survival game?

Survival + Grid-Based Movement

Of 23 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement Survival 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.. 66 more are announced, ×5.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $50k, ×80 the market median. Revenue is up 620% on the market; 66 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 620% on the market, 66 announced, ×5.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.0k → $3.6k → $29k → $539 → $180 (still earning) → $6.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $8.1k (exactly $8,092)
Top 5% $50k (exactly $50,018)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 81
Announced 66
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.59

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 620% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Survival
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival, Grid-Based Movement; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Procedural Generation, Roguelike, Strategy
Price point
$6.59 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.59.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 748 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 $600, 1 in 4 over $8.0k, 1 in 20 over $50k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds14 devs · median $74k · 10 announced
  2. + Social DeductionFair31 devs · median $6.2k · 35 announced
  3. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  4. + CatsFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 34 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair77 devs · median $1.0k · 84 announced
  6. + IdlerFair96 devs · median $836 · 99 announced
  7. + Auto BattlerFair79 devs · median $807 · 90 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair101 devs · median $599 · 130 announced
  9. + DogsFair20 devs · median $535 · 19 announced
  10. + Martial ArtsLong shot19 devs · median $419 · 17 announced
  11. + Boomer ShooterLong shot39 devs · median $359 · 32 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds16 devs · median $100k · 28 announced

All 234 pairs on the Survival page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

NEO Scavenger 2014 · $2.0M Zanki Zero: Last Beginning 2019 · $1.2M Subterrain: Mines of Titan 2024 · $394k Shardpunk 2023 · $310k Wayward 2016 · EA · $291k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
NEO Scavenger older $14.99 4,437 89% 133k $2.0M (exactly $1,995,319) Blue Bottle Games
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning older $59.99 650 77% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,169,805) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Shardpunk older $13.99 739 92% 22k $310k (exactly $310,158) Clockwork Pile
Wayward · EA older $7.99 1,213 86% 36k $291k (exactly $290,756) Unlok
Shattered Planet older $14.99 406 68% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) Kitfox Games
Space Prison older $19.99 271 84% 8.1k $163k (exactly $162,519) Wooden Alien
Icaria $24.99 79 75% 2.4k $59k (exactly $59,226) Blindsight Games LLC
Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle older $16.99 108 74% 3.2k $55k (exactly $55,048) 68k Studios
Into the Emberlands $6.59 253 79% 7.6k $50k (exactly $50,018) Tiny Roar
Chrysalis $9.99 118 84% 3.5k $35k (exactly $35,365) Metamorph Games
KAZ $6.99 143 94% 4.3k $30k (exactly $29,987) Kalinarm
ColdRidge $9.99 97 73% 2.9k $29k (exactly $29,071) Frog Collective
Null Hørizøn $9.99 27 85% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) HopefullyHeroic
Exipelago $24.99 9 66% 270 $6.7k (exactly $6,747) reiti.net
PETRACAL $5.99 15 100% 450 $2.7k (exactly $2,696) FeralSquid
Tavrik $11.99 6 100% 180 $2.2k (exactly $2,158) Nyra Games
GameSyndicates $29.99 1 100% 30 $900 (exactly $900) GameSyndicates

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