Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Music
Should I ship a Music Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Music
Of 50 developers who shipped a Music 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×296 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 74 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $208 (exactly $208) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,194) |
| Top 5% | $141k (exactly $140,700) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 477 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Colorful, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 3,494 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 52 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Valiant Hearts: The Great War™ / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre™ 2014 · $11M 
Tetris® Effect: Connected 2021 · $10M 
TOEM: A Photo Adventure 2021 · $5.8M 
In Sound Mind 2021 · $5.7M 
Donut County 2018 · $4.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Valiant Hearts: The Great War™ / Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre™ | older | $14.99 | 24,468 95% | 734k | $11M (exactly $11,003,260) | Ubisoft Montpellier |
| | Tetris® Effect: Connected | older | $39.99 | 8,429 94% | 253k | $10M (exactly $10,112,271) | Monstars Inc., Resonair, Stage Games |
| | TOEM: A Photo Adventure | older | $19.99 | 9,688 99% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,809,894) | Something We Made |
| | In Sound Mind | older | $34.99 | 5,467 95% | 164k | $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) | We Create Stuff |
| | Donut County | older | $12.99 | 11,038 91% | 331k | $4.3M (exactly $4,301,509) | Ben Esposito |
 | Melatonin | older | $14.99 | 7,554 94% | 227k | $3.4M (exactly $3,397,034) | Half Asleep |
 | AudioSurf | older | $9.99 | 8,901 95% | 267k | $2.7M (exactly $2,667,630) | Dylan Fitterer |
 | Audiosurf 2 | older | $14.99 | 5,364 82% | 161k | $2.4M (exactly $2,412,191) | Dylan Fitterer |
 | DEEMO -Reborn- | older | $24.99 | 3,188 87% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,390,044) | Rayark International Limited |
 | Super Hexagon | older | $2.99 | 18,371 97% | 551k | $1.6M (exactly $1,647,879) | Terry Cavanagh |
 | Lumines Arise | $39.99 | 848 94% | 25k | $1.0M (exactly $1,017,346) | Enhance, Monstars Inc. | |
 | Metro Gravity | $12.99 | 852 92% | 26k | $332k (exactly $332,024) | mrkogamedev | |
 | Dark Pals: The 1st Floor | $6.70 | 700 87% | 21k | $141k (exactly $140,700) | Skunx Games | |
 | Hatsune Miku Logic Paint S+ | $14.99 | 280 89% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $125,916) | Crypton Future Media | |
 | Magic Tiny Lands | $29.99 | 86 90% | 2.6k | $77k (exactly $77,374) | Galactic Geckon | |
 | GRIDbeat! | $19.99 | 93 100% | 2.8k | $56k (exactly $55,772) | Ridiculous Games | |
 | Birds Organized Neatly | $2.99 | 345 97% | 10k | $31k (exactly $30,947) | DU&I | |
 | Tempopo | $19.99 | 39 97% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Witch Beam | |
 | Puppergeist | $4.99 | 156 95% | 4.7k | $23k (exactly $23,353) | Serenity Forge | |
 | Swan Song | $7.99 | 95 96% | 2.9k | $23k (exactly $22,772) | Business Goose Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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