Do I ship it?

Games › Level Editor › Level Editor + Mystery

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mystery Level Editor game?

Level Editor + Mystery

Of 22 developers who shipped a Mystery Level Editor 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $630, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $60; 1 in 20 cleared $2.5M, ×4099 the market median. Revenue is up 5570% on the market; 32 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 5570% on the market, 32 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Level Editor + Mystery
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $90 → $628 → $2.8k (still earning) → $4.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Level Editor + Mystery: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $14k (exactly $13,663)
Top 5% $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 47
Announced 32
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 5570% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Mystery
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
Level Editor; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Investigation
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
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 86% positive over 22,428 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 $630, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $2.5M.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Level Editor with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Multiple EndingsFair17 devs · median $8.1k · 23 announced
  2. + Hidden ObjectFair12 devs · median $7.6k · 14 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  4. + Time AttackFair12 devs · median $748 · 14 announced
  5. + IdlerFair19 devs · median $719 · 12 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair51 devs · median $598 · 62 announced
  7. + AutomationLong shot27 devs · median $300 · 32 announced
  8. + TransportationPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 17 announced
  9. + TrainsPoor odds10 devs · median $43k · 11 announced
  10. + MilitaryPoor odds22 devs · median $43k · 46 announced
  11. + City BuilderPoor odds20 devs · median $24k · 50 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds36 devs · median $19k · 111 announced

All 136 pairs on the Level Editor page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Blue Prince 2025 · $16M Escape Simulator 2021 · $9.9M Escape Simulator 2 2025 · $2.6M Voxelgram 2019 · $205k Vaudeville 2025 · $170k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Blue Prince $29.99 17,498 85% 525k $16M (exactly $15,742,951) Dogubomb
Escape Simulator older $19.99 16,496 94% 495k $9.9M (exactly $9,892,651) Pine Studio
Escape Simulator 2 $19.99 4,292 92% 129k $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) Pine Studio
Voxelgram older $9.99 684 98% 21k $205k (exactly $204,995) Procedural Level
Vaudeville $19.99 283 48% 8.5k $170k (exactly $169,715) Bumblebee Studios
Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary older $19.99 167 89% 5.0k $100k (exactly $100,150) Toxic Games
LIMSCAPE : THE LIMINAL SPACE EXPLORER $9.99 163 87% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,851) SMOOTHEA
The Angel's Devil Tail - One More Question 2 $9.99 70 91% 2.1k $21k (exactly $20,979) 橘音
Sex Shop Simulator: Sinful Girls $7.99 57 43% 1.7k $14k (exactly $13,663) Bits, Bytes & Sins
Hazard Pay $16.99 24 100% 720 $12k (exactly $12,233) Smitner Studio
sepapu $11.99 11 100% 330 $4.0k (exactly $3,957) Zeozen
Couch Detective · EA $4.99 19 57% 570 $2.8k (exactly $2,844) Gamtropy
AI Asylum $6.99 11 36% 330 $2.3k (exactly $2,307) River Dynamics

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