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Should I ship a Magic Mystery Dungeon?
Mystery Dungeon + Magic
Of 62 developers who shipped a Magic Mystery Dungeon 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.. 100 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×233 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 100 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,250) |
| Top 5% | $111k (exactly $110,741) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 62 |
| Released games | 203 |
| Announced | 100 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Magic
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Mystery Dungeon; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 3,032 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 33 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mystery Dungeon with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + TacticalStrong odds
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + PhysicsFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Escape Dungeon 2 | older | $17.99 | 1,700 93% | 51k | $917k (exactly $917,490) | Hide Games |
| | In Verbis Virtus | older | $19.99 | 1,464 78% | 44k | $878k (exactly $877,961) | Indomitus Games |
| | Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle | $18.99 | 950 71% | 29k | $541k (exactly $541,215) | KTMG LLC. | |
| | The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians - Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 625 83% | 19k | $375k (exactly $374,812) | Mana Games |
| | Loop Queen-Escape Dungeon 3 | older | $19.99 | 611 84% | 18k | $366k (exactly $366,417) | Hide Games |
| | Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 | older | $24.99 | 342 89% | 10k | $256k (exactly $256,397) | NEKOTOKAGE GAMES |
| | Strikey Sisters | older | $9.99 | 785 90% | 24k | $235k (exactly $235,264) | DYA Games |
| | Full Mojo Rampage | older | $12.99 | 524 85% | 16k | $204k (exactly $204,203) | Over the Top Games |
| | Diggles: The Myth of Fenris | older | $9.99 | 619 89% | 19k | $186k (exactly $185,514) | Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, Genera… (Spieleentwicklungskombinat GmbH, General Arcade) |
| | From Frontier | older | $15.99 | 359 96% | 11k | $172k (exactly $172,212) | Doubles Core |
| | Embers Adrift | $19.99 | 240 69% | 7.2k | $144k (exactly $143,928) | Stormhaven Studios | |
| | Legacy of Defense | $7.99 | 545 72% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,636) | Enter the Game Studios | |
| | Meowgic | $7.99 | 462 79% | 14k | $111k (exactly $110,741) | Lazy Turtle Games | |
| | Slot & Dungeons | $8.99 | 304 83% | 9.1k | $82k (exactly $81,989) | MUC GAMES | |
| | Paper Animal Adventure | · EA | $14.99 | 139 95% | 4.2k | $63k (exactly $62,508) | Cuddling Raccoons Studio |
| | Elmarion: the Lost Temple | $14.99 | 93 67% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | Fleon Games | |
| | Alisa's Grimoire | $16.99 | 77 87% | 2.3k | $39k (exactly $39,247) | Circle Kurasuke Warehouse | |
| | Runehaven | $9.99 | 119 91% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,664) | Cikoria Studio | |
| | Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure Remastered Edition | $9.99 | 103 94% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,869) | NEKOTOKAGE GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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