Games › Real-Time › Real-Time + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Real-Time game?
Real-Time + Puzzle
Only 7 developers shipped a Puzzle Real-Time game 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, Tower of Mask, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $5.4k against a market of $630. 5 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $36,674) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,703) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 7 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 5 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Real-Time, Puzzle
- Price point
- $10.99 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 $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 10,521 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.7k. 5 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Real-Time with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Character CustomizationStrong odds
- + RogueliteFair
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + WargamePoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + StrategyPoor odds
- + RTSPoor odds
Comparable games
Legend of Grimrock 2012 · $2.2M 
Shadows: Awakening 2018 · $1.4M 
RAILGRADE 2023 · $1.1M 
Vaporum 2017 · $599k 
Vaporum: Lockdown 2020 · $158k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Legend of Grimrock | older | $14.99 | 4,844 93% | 145k | $2.2M (exactly $2,178,347) | Almost Human Games |
| | Shadows: Awakening | older | $29.99 | 1,535 75% | 46k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,040) | Games Farm |
| | RAILGRADE | older | $29.99 | 1,205 84% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,138) | Minakata Dynamics |
| | Vaporum | older | $19.99 | 998 84% | 30k | $599k (exactly $598,501) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
| | Vaporum: Lockdown | older | $17.99 | 292 83% | 8.8k | $158k (exactly $157,592) | Fatbot Games, s. r. o. |
 | Tower of Mask | $10.99 | 357 95% | 11k | $118k (exactly $117,703) | Papertip Studio | |
 | Dungeon Of Dragon Knight | older | $11.99 | 315 74% | 9.5k | $113k (exactly $113,306) | HexGameStudio |
 | Mini Golf Arena | · EA older | $8.99 | 385 51% | 12k | $104k (exactly $103,834) | Evoluta Studio |
 | Radical Relocation | older | $9.99 | 258 74% | 7.7k | $77k (exactly $77,323) | Winglett Entertainment |
 | The Last Express Gold Edition | older | $6.99 | 332 79% | 10k | $70k (exactly $69,620) | Dotemu |
 | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games | |
 | uFactory | $9.99 | 62 69% | 1.9k | $19k (exactly $18,581) | Lucid Silence Games | |
 | NULLPTR | $14.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Jeferson Silva | |
 | corpo/ghost | $14.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) | Interleaved Systems | |
 | Marble Quest | · EA | $4.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Wolf Developer, ReelablePenny14 |
 | BaseStar | $12.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | DeKat |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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