Do I ship it?

Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Hack and Slash game?

Hack and Slash + Score Attack

Of 81 developers who shipped a Score Attack 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.. 96 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $810k, ×1292 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 96 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 96 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hack and Slash + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $838 → $899 → $119 → $1.3k → $3.6k → $539 → $479 (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hack and Slash + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,486)
Top 5% $811k (exactly $811,259)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 178
Announced 96
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 70% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hack and Slash, Score Attack; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Bullet Hell
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 148,739 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $810k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 45 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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

Megabonk 2025 · $30M Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M Dead as Disco 2026 · EA · $9.3M Temtem: Swarm 2026 · $969k KILL KNIGHT 2024 · $811k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
Dead as Disco · EA $24.99 12,354 96% 371k $9.3M (exactly $9,261,794) Brain Jar Games, Inc.
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
KILL KNIGHT $14.99 1,804 93% 54k $811k (exactly $811,259) PlaySide
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny $29.99 663 85% 20k $597k (exactly $596,501) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
NIMRODS · EA $9.99 1,783 85% 53k $534k (exactly $534,365) Fiveamp
Big Helmet Heroes $24.99 678 78% 20k $508k (exactly $508,297) Exalted Studio
Geometry Arena older $5.99 2,114 95% 63k $380k (exactly $379,886) 011 Games
Helskate $24.99 301 65% 9.0k $226k (exactly $225,660) Phantom Coast

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