Games › Platformer › Platformer + Science
Should I ship a Science Platformer?
Platformer + Science
Of 37 developers who shipped a Science Platformer 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.. 63 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×947 the market median. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 63 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 5% | $450k (exactly $449,775) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 132 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 275% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Science
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Platformer; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 8,787 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + PinballStrong odds
- + Combat RacingFair
- + FMVFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Co-op CampaignPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + SkateboardingPoor odds
Comparable games
Portal 2 2011 · $117M 
Portal 2007 · $52M 
Mina the Hollower 2026 · $4.5M 
CATO: Buttered Cat 2024 · $921k 
Suicide Guy 2017 · $502k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Portal 2 | older | $9.99 | 390,412 98% | 12M | $117M (exactly $117,006,476) | Valve |
| | Portal | older | $9.99 | 173,594 98% | 5.2M | $52M (exactly $52,026,122) | Valve |
| | Mina the Hollower | $19.99 | 7,562 88% | 227k | $4.5M (exactly $4,534,931) | Yacht Club Games | |
| | CATO: Buttered Cat | older | $10.99 | 2,794 98% | 84k | $921k (exactly $921,182) | Team Woll |
| | Suicide Guy | older | $5.99 | 2,794 88% | 84k | $502k (exactly $502,082) | Fabio Ferrara |
 | Quantum Conundrum | older | $8.99 | 1,758 84% | 53k | $474k (exactly $474,133) | Airtight Games |
 | Bionic Bay | $19.99 | 750 84% | 23k | $450k (exactly $449,775) | Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy | |
 | DEPLOYMENT | older | $14.99 | 951 85% | 29k | $428k (exactly $427,665) | Whale Rock Games |
 | The Enjenir: The Engineering Physics Building Simulator | · EA older | $14.99 | 681 91% | 20k | $306k (exactly $306,246) | PeatyTurf |
 | Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut | older | $9.99 | 883 82% | 26k | $265k (exactly $264,635) | Toxic Games |
 | Looking For Fael | $19.99 | 165 98% | 5.0k | $99k (exactly $98,950) | Swing Swing Submarine, La Poule Noire,… (Swing Swing Submarine, La Poule Noire, ARTE France) | |
 | Exographer | $19.99 | 124 94% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | SciFunGames | |
 | Not Sure About That | $4.99 | 76 98% | 2.3k | $11k (exactly $11,377) | Scratch | |
 | Trigger of Time | $7.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) | Pantopie | |
 | Solvimus | $19.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $6.6k (exactly $6,597) | Iocus GmbH | |
 | MINERALS: Deep Core Mining | $6.99 | 23 78% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | THINK & FEEL | |
 | Divider Dave | $7.99 | 18 94% | 540 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | Louis Vidal 'Pignomaster', José-Manuel… (Louis Vidal 'Pignomaster', José-Manuel Girona 'Gringo_Charlatan') | |
 | Cube Mind | $4.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | David Seco |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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