Games › Simulation › Simulation + Mystery Dungeon
Should I ship a Mystery Dungeon Simulation game?
Simulation + Mystery Dungeon
Of 57 developers who shipped a Mystery Dungeon Simulation 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.. 67 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 67 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,256) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) |
| Top 5% | $229k (exactly $228,742) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 57 |
| Released games | 148 |
| Announced | 67 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 65% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Simulation, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Dungeon Crawler, RPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 4,831 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. All of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
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 |
| | Vivid Knight | older | $14.99 | 1,635 89% | 49k | $735k (exactly $735,260) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd |
| | Vivid World | $19.99 | 591 88% | 18k | $354k (exactly $354,423) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd | |
| | The Backrooms: Survival | older | $9.99 | 881 82% | 26k | $264k (exactly $264,036) | RE:CODE |
| | Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 | older | $24.99 | 342 89% | 10k | $256k (exactly $256,397) | NEKOTOKAGE GAMES |
| | TRADESMAN: Deal to Dealer | $4.99 | 1,528 78% | 46k | $229k (exactly $228,742) | AZAMATIKA | |
| | The Light Remake | older | $4.99 | 1,462 87% | 44k | $219k (exactly $218,861) | Носков Сергей |
| | Legacy of Defense | $7.99 | 545 72% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,636) | Enter the Game Studios | |
| | Dungeon Dreams 2 | older | $19.99 | 209 90% | 6.3k | $125k (exactly $125,337) | DDreams Games |
| | Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- | $24.99 | 160 49% | 4.8k | $120k (exactly $119,952) | Square Enix | |
| | PuPu's Adventure Park | $14.99 | 130 64% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | 西梅树工作室 | |
| | Hero in an All-Forgiving Fantasy World RPG | $16.99 | 74 74% | 2.2k | $38k (exactly $37,718) | INAZUMA GAMES | |
| | Lost in the World of Succubi | $13.99 | 66 81% | 2.0k | $28k (exactly $27,700) | Shimofumi-ya | |
| | Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire | $19.99 | 41 70% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | Schell Games | |
| | The Lustful Inn of Female Adventurers | $9.99 | 81 76% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $24,276) | StudioVR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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