Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Mystery Dungeon
Should I ship a Mystery Dungeon Sandbox?
Sandbox + Mystery Dungeon
Of 20 developers who shipped a Mystery Dungeon Sandbox 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.. 35 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×1.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $5.0M, ×8027 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 35 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,721) |
| Top 5% | $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 70% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Open World, Dungeon Crawler
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 10,430 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Elin 2024 · EA · $5.0M 
TRADESMAN: Deal to Dealer 2026 · $229k 
Embers Adrift 2025 · $144k 
Cosmonious High 2022 · $138k 
Spirit Animal Survival 2026 · $58k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Elin | · EA | $19.99 | 8,406 93% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,041,078) | Lafrontier |
| | TRADESMAN: Deal to Dealer | $4.99 | 1,528 78% | 46k | $229k (exactly $228,742) | AZAMATIKA | |
| | Embers Adrift | $19.99 | 240 69% | 7.2k | $144k (exactly $143,928) | Stormhaven Studios | |
| | Cosmonious High | older | $19.99 | 230 94% | 6.9k | $138k (exactly $137,931) | Owlchemy Labs |
| | Spirit Animal Survival | $19.99 | 96 62% | 2.9k | $58k (exactly $57,571) | TRUEFX GAMES | |
 | Brinefall | older | $7.99 | 90 40% | 2.7k | $22k (exactly $21,573) | Qwerty Studio |
 | 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 | |
 | CRYODEATH VR | older | $24.99 | 21 85% | 630 | $16k (exactly $15,744) | Kerag Elisaar |
 | Endless Suburbia | older | $4.99 | 91 64% | 2.7k | $14k (exactly $13,623) | Horrid Vision LLC |
 | 3DRPG | older | $1.99 | 167 64% | 5.0k | $10k (exactly $9,970) | Doomster Entertainment |
 | Digging the Forgotten Cave | $4.99 | 54 75% | 1.6k | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) | Cavernauts | |
 | Senpai and the Mysterious Island | $11.99 | 16 37% | 480 | $5.8k (exactly $5,755) | Ruhut Soft | |
 | Neon Sunset | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Gamesforgames | |
 | DEEPLY | · EA | $2.99 | 14 35% | 420 | $1.3k (exactly $1,256) | TWEN |
 | SAE | · EA | $12.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $1.2k (exactly $1,169) | SAE GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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