Do I ship it?

Games › Programming › Programming + Puzzle Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Programming Puzzle Platformer?

Programming + Puzzle Platformer

Only 11 developers shipped a Programming Puzzle 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.. 18 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $64k, ×136 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 18 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 18 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Programming + Puzzle Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $89 → $1.5k → $1.9k → $538 → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Programming + Puzzle Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $538 (exactly $538)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,793)
Top 5% $65k (exactly $64,690)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 50
Announced 18
Effort 4 / 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 down 95% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Programming
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Puzzle Platformer
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
Programming, Puzzle Platformer
Price point
$7.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 88% positive over 261 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $540, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Base BuildingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + Auto BattlerFair14 devs · median $14k · 14 announced
  3. + RogueliteFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  4. + SandboxFair60 devs · median $7.0k · 71 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  6. + AutomationFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  7. + Turn-Based TacticsFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  8. + SimulationFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced
  9. + RobotsFair24 devs · median $1.8k · 29 announced
  10. + CrimeFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 13 announced
  11. + Sci-fiFair56 devs · median $1.7k · 63 announced
  12. + FuturisticFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 25 announced

All 57 pairs on the Programming page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M One Dreamer 2022 · $192k Recursed 2016 · $151k I hate this game 2019 · $147k Linkito 2024 · $68k
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.
One Dreamer older $15.99 400 90% 12k $192k (exactly $191,880) F2House
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
Linkito older $14.99 152 87% 4.6k $68k (exactly $68,354) Kalinarm
Star Stuff older $14.99 151 99% 4.5k $68k (exactly $67,905) Ánimo Games Studio
MainFrames $12.99 166 88% 5.0k $65k (exactly $64,690) Assoupi
World of Contraptions older $9.99 89 86% 2.7k $27k (exactly $26,673) JCP Games Studio
Super Markup Man older $4.99 120 81% 3.6k $18k (exactly $17,964) Roppy Chop Studios
The Lilliput Workshop $7.99 51 88% 1.5k $12k (exactly $12,225) Cotton Game
Signal Maze $14.99 24 95% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) theArkitect
Yolo Space Hacker 2 - Mission Bahamas $19.99 4 75% 120 $2.4k (exactly $2,399) BKNLab
Pixel Forge $9.99 4 75% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) MELOVITY
Pawn.OS() $2.99 6 83% 180 $538 (exactly $538) Punic Code
H4CT0PL45M $4.99 3 100% 90 $449 (exactly $449) MetricBead
TAU-09 $3.99 3 100% 90 $359 (exactly $359) axsys_crash
CollapsingWorldGuildmaster · EA $3.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) JAM
Blendefine $7.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 寰宇四象计划

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