Do I ship it?

Games › Party Game › Party Game + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Party Game?

Party Game + Top-Down Shooter

Of 30 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Party 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 23 developers shipped in the last year and 53 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 53 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Party Game + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $360 → $899 → $1.6k → $150 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Party Game + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 5% $57k (exactly $57,192)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 58
Announced 53
Effort 4 / 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 down 80% on the market, supply 230% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Party Game
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Party Game, Top-Down Shooter; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Combat, Physics
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 936 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $300, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $57k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Party Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Board GameFair72 devs · median $899 · 98 announced
  2. + RhythmFair11 devs · median $802 · 19 announced
  3. + DeckbuildingFair22 devs · median $719 · 30 announced
  4. + Card BattlerFair28 devs · median $449 · 35 announced
  5. + MinigamesPoor odds28 devs · median $4.0k · 66 announced
  6. + RoguelitePoor odds22 devs · median $2.7k · 68 announced
  7. + RoguelikePoor odds16 devs · median $2.7k · 51 announced
  8. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $2.4k · 45 announced
  9. + DestructionPoor odds13 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  10. + DrivingPoor odds28 devs · median $1.7k · 60 announced
  11. + SurvivalPoor odds55 devs · median $1.3k · 135 announced
  12. + HorrorPoor odds61 devs · median $1.3k · 144 announced

All 95 pairs on the Party Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DunHero 2026 · $143k INVERSUS Deluxe 2016 · $122k BattleCap 2024 · $57k Dragon Drop 2022 · EA · $10k AT SUNDOWN: Shots in the Dark 2019 · $8.1k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DunHero $8.99 530 89% 16k $143k (exactly $142,941) Dev Kacper
INVERSUS Deluxe older $14.99 271 88% 8.1k $122k (exactly $121,869) Hypersect
BattleCap $11.99 159 96% 4.8k $57k (exactly $57,192) MechAlmond Productions
Dragon Drop · EA older $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Cloudy Games LLC
AT SUNDOWN: Shots in the Dark older $9.99 27 55% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Mildbeast
Wink Out · EA $7.99 31 100% 930 $7.4k (exactly $7,431) Clevergence Games
Kitchen Wars $4.99 45 80% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) Silent Owl
Blood Night · EA $1.99 109 95% 3.3k $6.5k (exactly $6,507) Team
Checkmate Kings older $9.99 16 75% 480 $4.8k (exactly $4,795) Monka Studios
Bandits older $5.99 16 87% 480 $2.9k (exactly $2,875) Benerot
Buhei $7.99 11 90% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Wild Garlic Games
Shenaniguns $3.99 18 100% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,155) coding398
Harpoon Arena $5.99 10 90% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) FairGoose
Carpoon $4.99 11 100% 330 $1.6k (exactly $1,647) Tom Arnold
Chaotic Cats $3.99 12 100% 360 $1.4k (exactly $1,436) Headbounce

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.