Do I ship it?

Games › Level Editor › Level Editor + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Level Editor Puzzle game?

Level Editor + Puzzle

Of 173 developers who shipped a Level Editor Puzzle 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.. 247 more are announced, ×2.7 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 $90; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×200 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 247 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 247 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Level Editor + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 173
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.2k → $807 → $599 → $718 → $599 → $779 (still earning) → $130 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Level Editor + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 173
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $598 (exactly $598)
Top 25% $4.0k (exactly $4,042)
Top 5% $126k (exactly $125,670)
Developers, 2 yr 173
Released games 635
Announced 247
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 up 80% on the market, supply as many developers as 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.

Level Editor
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Level Editor, Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Strategy, Simulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 28,307 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.0k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 95 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 247 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Level Editor with a different second tag, 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

Portal 2 2011 · $117M BattleBlock Theater® 2014 · $25M Besiege 2020 · $22M Blue Prince 2025 · $16M Escape Simulator 2021 · $9.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Portal 2 older $9.99 390,412 98% 12M $117M (exactly $117,006,476) Valve
BattleBlock Theater® older $14.99 55,793 97% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,090,112) The Behemoth
Besiege older $14.99 48,045 95% 1.4M $22M (exactly $21,605,836) Spiderling Studios
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
Baba Is You older $14.99 21,011 97% 630k $9.4M (exactly $9,448,647) Hempuli Oy
Poly Bridge older $9.99 17,107 91% 513k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,968) Dry Cactus
Door Kickers older $19.99 8,041 94% 241k $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) KillHouse Games
Poly Bridge 2 older $14.99 7,875 95% 236k $3.5M (exactly $3,541,388) Dry Cactus
Gunpoint older $9.99 10,276 97% 308k $3.1M (exactly $3,079,717) Suspicious Developments
Escape Simulator 2 $19.99 4,292 92% 129k $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) Pine Studio
The Artisan of Glimmith $12.99 2,513 97% 75k $979k (exactly $979,316) Lunarch Studios
Turbo Dismount® 2 $19.99 753 95% 23k $452k (exactly $451,574) Secret Exit Ltd.
Haydee 3 $29.99 321 84% 9.6k $289k (exactly $288,804) Haydee Interactive
Replicube $9.99 709 96% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) Walaber Entertainment LLC
JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator $17.99 378 76% 11k $204k (exactly $204,007) Prof. Scherer
Gentoo Rescue $19.99 237 99% 7.1k $142k (exactly $142,129) Jagriff
Horse Magnifier: The Full Horse $2.99 1,401 99% 42k $126k (exactly $125,670) sketbordcat
Suck Up! $16.99 205 62% 6.2k $104k (exactly $104,488) Proxima

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