Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Naval
Should I ship a Naval Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Naval
Only 15 developers shipped a Naval Puzzle game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Rogue Waters, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 9 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $269 (exactly $269) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 5% | $859k (exactly $859,214) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 16 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 285% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Board Game
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, Relaxing, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 1,063 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Return of the Obra Dinn 2018 · $19M 
Assassin’s Creed® Rogue 2015 · $13M 
SteamWorld Heist II 2024 · $2.0M 
Rogue Waters 2024 · $859k 
Hasbro's BATTLESHIP 2018 · $310k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Return of the Obra Dinn | older | $19.99 | 32,309 96% | 969k | $19M (exactly $19,375,707) | Lucas Pope |
| | Assassin’s Creed® Rogue | older | $19.99 | 21,310 86% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,779,607) | Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev |
| | SteamWorld Heist II | older | $29.99 | 2,201 93% | 66k | $2.0M (exactly $1,980,240) | Thunderful Development |
| | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
| | Hasbro's BATTLESHIP | older | $12.49 | 828 82% | 25k | $310k (exactly $310,252) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Inua - A Story in Ice and Time | older | $14.99 | 81 93% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $36,426) | The Pixel Hunt, IKO, ARTE France |
 | Summer Trip Cruise | older | $9.99 | 103 90% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,869) | Gius Caminiti |
 | Beacon Patrol | $11.99 | 70 97% | 2.1k | $25k (exactly $25,179) | Shapes and Dreams, BrutalHack | |
 | Aquarist VR | older | $9.99 | 29 44% | 870 | $8.7k (exactly $8,691) | FreeMind S.A. |
 | SokoChess | older | $4.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $5.5k (exactly $5,539) | Daisy Games |
 | Seven Seas Jewels Collector's Edition | $14.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | Anawiki Games | |
 | Seven Seas Jewels 2 Collector's Edition | $15.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.9k (exactly $2,878) | Anawiki Games | |
 | Meduziak | $9.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Fieldfare Studios | |
 | Darkstone Bay | $7.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | M9 Games | |
 | Let's Freeze Some Penguins | $14.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | Neckbolt | |
 | Wake Explorer | $1.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $298 (exactly $298) | Ocelli | |
 | Soko Pirates | $2.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | Matrix Reliability | |
 | Heave Away Haul Away | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | Rokem Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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