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Should I ship a Puzzle Mystery Dungeon?
Mystery Dungeon + Puzzle
Of 130 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 180 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 72 developers shipped in the last year and 180 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $298 (exactly $298) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 5% | $28k (exactly $27,872) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 130 |
| Released games | 405 |
| Announced | 180 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Mystery Dungeon, Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,614 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 69 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 180 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mystery Dungeon with a different second tag, 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
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy 2026 · $5.3M 
Hammerwatch II 2023 · $1.4M 
In Verbis Virtus 2015 · $878k 
The Coma 2B: Catacomb 2024 · $263k 
The Light Remake 2020 · $219k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy | $49.99 | 3,558 92% | 107k | $5.3M (exactly $5,335,933) | Asobo Studio | |
| | Hammerwatch II | older | $24.99 | 1,871 60% | 56k | $1.4M (exactly $1,402,689) | Crackshell |
| | In Verbis Virtus | older | $19.99 | 1,464 78% | 44k | $878k (exactly $877,961) | Indomitus Games |
| | The Coma 2B: Catacomb | $14.99 | 584 75% | 18k | $263k (exactly $262,625) | Dvora Studio Co., Ltd. | |
| | The Light Remake | older | $4.99 | 1,462 87% | 44k | $219k (exactly $218,861) | Носков Сергей |
 | Hourglass | older | $19.99 | 331 88% | 9.9k | $199k (exactly $198,501) | Cyberwave |
 | Dungeon Digger | older | $39.99 | 98 81% | 2.9k | $118k (exactly $117,571) | Galactic Geckon |
 | Baldo: The Guardian Owls | older | $19.99 | 185 65% | 5.6k | $111k (exactly $110,944) | Naps Team |
 | Dungeons of Dreadrock | older | $5.99 | 513 94% | 15k | $92k (exactly $92,186) | Prof. Dr. Christoph Minnameier |
 | Dracula: Love Kills | older | $9.99 | 298 80% | 8.9k | $89k (exactly $89,311) | Waterlily Games |
 | Chained in the Backrooms | · EA | $2.99 | 933 68% | 28k | $84k (exactly $83,690) | Task+ Studios |
 | Lord Ambermaze | $14.99 | 131 91% | 3.9k | $59k (exactly $58,911) | Potata Company | |
 | Liminal Shroud | $12.99 | 91 89% | 2.7k | $35k (exactly $35,463) | Everdeep Studios | |
 | Sudoku Mansion | $14.99 | 69 98% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,029) | Vault Door Studios | |
 | Bobo's Big Tower | $9.99 | 93 92% | 2.8k | $28k (exactly $27,872) | SillyKitty | |
 | The Succubus Trap Island | $13.99 | 59 84% | 1.8k | $25k (exactly $24,762) | Tsukinomizu Project | |
 | The Maze Survivor: The 9th Entrants | $8.99 | 62 82% | 1.9k | $17k (exactly $16,721) | 崔资坦独立游戏Triztan IndieGame | |
 | The Strange Story Of Brian Fisher: Chapter 2 | $14.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Intetic |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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