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Should I ship a Thriller Mystery Dungeon?
Mystery Dungeon + Thriller
Of 34 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 28 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $3,953) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $118,129) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 84 |
| Announced | 28 |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- Thriller
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Mystery Dungeon; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 1,917 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Mystery Dungeon with a different setting or mood, 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
Unmourned 2025 · $193k 
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. 2025 · $118k 
Chained in the Backrooms 2025 · EA · $84k 
Stifled - Echolocation Horror Mystery 2018 · $47k 
Forbidden Art 2024 · $43k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Unmourned | $24.99 | 258 79% | 7.7k | $193k (exactly $193,423) | Codebros Studio | |
| | Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. | $8.99 | 438 70% | 13k | $118k (exactly $118,129) | STUDIO POCO | |
| | Chained in the Backrooms | · EA | $2.99 | 933 68% | 28k | $84k (exactly $83,690) | Task+ Studios |
| | Stifled - Echolocation Horror Mystery | older | $19.99 | 78 70% | 2.3k | $47k (exactly $46,777) | Gattai Games |
| | Forbidden Art | older | $14.99 | 96 91% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | AIXLAB |
 | Liminal Shroud | $12.99 | 91 89% | 2.7k | $35k (exactly $35,463) | Everdeep Studios | |
 | Choose Wisely | older | $9.99 | 117 72% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | ID Card |
 | Endless Suburbia | older | $4.99 | 91 64% | 2.7k | $14k (exactly $13,623) | Horrid Vision LLC |
 | There Won't be Light | · EA older | $4.99 | 50 56% | 1.5k | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) | BarCoffee Studio |
 | Confronted | · EA | $7.99 | 31 100% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Grumpy Rock Studios |
 | They See Us | $3.99 | 60 85% | 1.8k | $7.2k (exactly $7,182) | MalumGames | |
 | Cursed Halls | $6.99 | 26 92% | 780 | $5.5k (exactly $5,452) | Souls Alive Development | |
 | La Llorona Wants Your Soul | $9.99 | 18 50% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Focka Games | |
 | Parnitha: Patient 66 | $5.99 | 22 81% | 660 | $4.0k (exactly $3,953) | Nick Jordan Games | |
 | Veins of DARKNESS | $2.99 | 40 87% | 1.2k | $3.6k (exactly $3,588) | Langonier |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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