Games › Programming › Programming + Platformer
Should I ship a Programming Platformer?
Programming + Platformer
Only 6 developers shipped a Programming Platformer 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, MainFrames, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×4.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $2.5k against a market of $480. 19 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) |
| Top 5% | $65k (exactly $64,690) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Programming, Platformer
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 5,555 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 19 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M 
Recursed 2016 · $151k 
I hate this game 2019 · $147k 
MainFrames 2025 · $65k 
Bots Are Stupid 2022 · $63k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Braid, Anniversary Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,761 92% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) | Thekla, Inc. |
| | Recursed | older | $7.99 | 632 96% | 19k | $151k (exactly $151,490) | Portponky |
| | I hate this game | older | $1.99 | 2,466 93% | 74k | $147k (exactly $147,220) | Pixel Error |
| | MainFrames | $12.99 | 166 88% | 5.0k | $65k (exactly $64,690) | Assoupi | |
| | Bots Are Stupid | older | $12.99 | 161 77% | 4.8k | $63k (exactly $62,742) | Leander Edler-Golla |
 | Arcane Assembly | older | $7.99 | 134 72% | 4.0k | $32k (exactly $32,120) | Isaac Lee |
 | Super Markup Man | older | $4.99 | 120 81% | 3.6k | $18k (exactly $17,964) | Roppy Chop Studios |
 | Triple Take | older | $6.99 | 55 83% | 1.7k | $12k (exactly $11,534) | FlyAway Studios |
 | Re:Touring | older | $9.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Malte Weiß |
 | Please adopt me. # AI needs repair. | older | $6.99 | 32 62% | 960 | $6.7k (exactly $6,710) | creati-bu |
 | Bit ESC | $14.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | Essssam | |
 | Dash'n'Drops | · EA | $6.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Le Moulin aux Bulles |
 | H4CT0PL45M | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | MetricBead | |
 | Malware City | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | Ludos Forge | |
 | CollapsingWorldGuildmaster | · EA | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | JAM |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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