Do I ship it?

GamesShoot 'Em UpShoot 'Em Up + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click Shoot 'Em Up?

Shoot 'Em Up + Point & Click

Of 29 developers who shipped a Point & Click Shoot 'Em Up 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.. 16 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $89 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 15 developers shipped in the last year and 16 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 355% on the market, 16 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Shoot 'Em Up + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $119 → $386 → $628 → $150 → $59 → $30 → $449 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Shoot 'Em Up + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $89 (exactly $89)
Top 25% $449 (exactly $449)
Top 5% $8.9k (exactly $8,880)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 90
Announced 16
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $2.99

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 355% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Shoot 'Em Up
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Shoot 'Em Up, Point & Click; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Bullet Hell
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $5.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Linear
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $5.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 245 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $89, 1 in 4 over $440, 1 in 20 over $8.8k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Shoot 'Em Up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FaithFair13 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  2. + RomanceFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair15 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  4. + Quick-Time EventsFair8 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair39 devs · median $628 · 36 announced
  6. + IdlerFair36 devs · median $628 · 14 announced
  7. + Tower DefenseFair70 devs · median $599 · 54 announced
  8. + Resource ManagementFair26 devs · median $599 · 34 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair749 devs · median $419 · 783 announced
  10. + SwordplayLong shot13 devs · median $300 · 5 announced
  11. + MusicPoor odds12 devs · median $9.0k · 12 announced
  12. + LovecraftianPoor odds8 devs · median $8.1k · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Shoot 'Em Up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Sift Heads - Cartels 4 older $14.99 90 85% 2.7k $40k (exactly $40,473) Pyrozen
EON Fighter older $5.99 97 88% 2.9k $17k (exactly $17,431) Square Wheel
Mousebusters $12.99 33 96% 990 $13k (exactly $12,860) Odencat
宗门最后的长老 $2.99 99 96% 3.0k $8.9k (exactly $8,880) KUMA studio
Brother Wings older $1.99 130 72% 3.9k $7.8k (exactly $7,761) Brogames
Survival Mission Z older $7.99 32 62% 960 $7.7k (exactly $7,670) RsWorks
Oik Memory older $0.99 243 86% 7.3k $7.2k (exactly $7,217) Crew Lab
EON Trooper older $6.99 31 90% 930 $6.5k (exactly $6,501) Square Wheel
Aim in Space older $4.99 42 95% 1.3k $6.3k (exactly $6,287) Serhii Khramov, Davyd Moskalenko, Maksy… (Serhii Khramov, Davyd Moskalenko, Maksym Kanshin)
Knife To Meet You older $14.99 13 100% 390 $5.8k (exactly $5,846) Mate Magyar
NUMANUIN $4.99 25 92% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) Siberian Mouse
Tilebreaker Next Level $5.99 11 100% 330 $2.0k (exactly $1,977) Square Wheel
CPU Invaders - Aim Hero $0.99 53 100% 1.6k $1.6k (exactly $1,574) Microblast Games
Dyno Burst: Bubble Shooter $3.99 10 100% 300 $1.2k (exactly $1,197) Popoko VM Games
Corner Clash $4.99 3 66% 90 $449 (exactly $449) Ape Blues
SynthetiCell BioClicker $2.99 5 0% 150 $449 (exactly $449) furiousDevPhoenix
The Fallen Kingdom $1.99 5 100% 150 $298 (exactly $298) Lucas Baldi Aragão
Shuriken Practice 3 $7.99 1 0% 30 $240 (exactly $240) myBad Studios

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