Do I ship it?

GamesPhysicsPhysics + Mystery Dungeon

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Physics Mystery Dungeon?

Physics + Mystery Dungeon

Of 22 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 20 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $50. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 20 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Physics + Mystery Dungeon
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: $300 → $598 → $598 → $60 → $539 → $3.3k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Physics + Mystery Dungeon: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 5% $111k (exactly $110,741)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 51
Announced 20
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 60% on the market, supply 20% more developers than 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Physics
effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
Mystery Dungeon
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
Physics, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Dungeon Crawler
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,256 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $540, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds31 devs · median $8.1k · 30 announced
  2. + Dating SimFair28 devs · median $5.9k · 20 announced
  3. + PinballFair62 devs · median $2.5k · 80 announced
  4. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  5. + Mini GolfFair40 devs · median $1.2k · 44 announced
  6. + GolfFair55 devs · median $987 · 59 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair179 devs · median $718 · 230 announced
  8. + IdlerFair142 devs · median $718 · 167 announced
  9. + Hidden ObjectFair162 devs · median $600 · 157 announced
  10. + CatsFair76 devs · median $599 · 101 announced
  11. + BilliardsFair36 devs · median $538 · 32 announced
  12. + BasketballLong shot19 devs · median $537 · 25 announced

All 251 pairs on the Physics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Goblin Cleanup · EA $19.99 1,615 87% 48k $969k (exactly $968,515) Crisalu Games
Meowgic $7.99 462 79% 14k $111k (exactly $110,741) Lazy Turtle Games
Forbidden Art older $14.99 96 91% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) AIXLAB
Runehaven $9.99 119 91% 3.6k $36k (exactly $35,664) Cikoria Studio
Naau: The Lost Eye older $24.99 28 67% 840 $21k (exactly $20,992) Studio Gamebit
Frame - Portals on Steroids older $16.99 35 91% 1.1k $18k (exactly $17,840) MechanicsDriven
The Pinball Wizard older $7.99 56 67% 1.7k $13k (exactly $13,423) Frosty Pop
Stocksynd House older $7.99 53 83% 1.6k $13k (exactly $12,704) CyberFlux Games, Gabro Media
Dungeon Slime: Puzzle's Adventure older $1.99 105 94% 3.2k $6.3k (exactly $6,268) Daniel Siqueira Abdelnur
Super Geisha Neon older $8.99 19 84% 570 $5.1k (exactly $5,124) HugePixel
UnPlugged $5.99 20 75% 600 $3.6k (exactly $3,594) DemonLabs Interactive
Neon Sunset $9.99 11 100% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Gamesforgames
Oldest Golden Treasure $14.99 4 75% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Vasil4N
Levitation Simulator 2 $2.99 13 92% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) OZNA STUDIO
Sense of Darkness $4.99 5 60% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Iurii Coseacov
Roxanne The Forgotten Path $11.99 2 50% 60 $719 (exactly $719) Steven Meza, MarosGraphic 7
OKIRO $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) Ziya Gao, Songya Xu, Zhenxi Zhang, Tina… (Ziya Gao, Songya Xu, Zhenxi Zhang, Tina Yao)

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