Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Mystery Dungeon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mystery Dungeon Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Mystery Dungeon

Of 35 developers who shipped a Mystery Dungeon Hack and Slash 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.. 60 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $540k, ×862 the market median. Revenue is up 2900% on the market; 60 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 2900% on the market, 60 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Mystery Dungeon
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 35
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $44k → $1.1k → $390 → $90 → $7.4k → $4.3k (still earning) → $2.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Mystery Dungeon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 35
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $14,244)
Top 5% $541k (exactly $541,215)
Developers, 2 yr 35
Released games 113
Announced 60
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 2900% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Hack and Slash
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Mystery Dungeon
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hack and Slash, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Cartoony
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 4,609 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $600, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $540k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Turn-BasedStrong odds8 devs · median $14k · 1 announced
  2. + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + VampiresFair32 devs · median $7.2k · 37 announced
  4. + ModernFair13 devs · median $7.2k · 20 announced
  5. + IdlerFair32 devs · median $6.4k · 50 announced
  6. + IncrementalFair40 devs · median $1.7k · 57 announced
  7. + RomancePoor odds11 devs · median $119k · 25 announced
  8. + Visual NovelPoor odds11 devs · median $85k · 22 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds27 devs · median $58k · 80 announced
  10. + DestructionPoor odds19 devs · median $43k · 57 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $33k · 20 announced
  12. + AutomationPoor odds12 devs · median $21k · 26 announced

All 175 pairs on the Hack and Slash page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Hammerwatch II 2023 · $1.4M Boyfriend Dungeon 2021 · $1.3M Stonemachia 2026 · $746k Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle 2026 · $541k Skull Horde 2026 · $422k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Hammerwatch II older $24.99 1,871 60% 56k $1.4M (exactly $1,402,689) Crackshell
Boyfriend Dungeon older $19.99 2,105 91% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,262,368) Kitfox Games
Stonemachia $19.99 1,244 95% 37k $746k (exactly $746,027) Crossfall Games
Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle $18.99 950 71% 29k $541k (exactly $541,215) KTMG LLC.
Skull Horde $12.99 1,083 81% 32k $422k (exactly $422,045) 8BitSkull
EXD - Extra Dimensional $29.99 316 82% 9.5k $284k (exactly $284,305) Lords of Illusion
Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 older $24.99 342 89% 10k $256k (exactly $256,397) NEKOTOKAGE GAMES
The World is Your Weapon older $9.99 646 97% 19k $194k (exactly $193,606) kagaya
Legacy of Defense $7.99 545 72% 16k $131k (exactly $130,636) Enter the Game Studios
Dungeon Digger older $39.99 98 81% 2.9k $118k (exactly $117,571) Galactic Geckon
Maid of Salvation $14.99 209 88% 6.3k $94k (exactly $93,987) ORANGE POPCORN
Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure Remastered Edition $9.99 103 94% 3.1k $31k (exactly $30,869) NEKOTOKAGE GAMES
Bobo's Big Tower $9.99 93 92% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,872) SillyKitty
Abyss: New Dawn · EA $24.99 19 63% 570 $14k (exactly $14,244) Aloya Productions
Dream Abyss: Survivors $9.99 47 70% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Studio215, NeonEggGames

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