Games › Rhythm › Rhythm + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Rhythm game?
Rhythm + Puzzle
Of 66 developers who shipped a Puzzle Rhythm game 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.. 71 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×124 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 71 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $537 (exactly $537) |
| Top 25% | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 5% | $59k (exactly $58,911) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 225 |
| Announced | 71 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 45% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Rhythm, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 1,896 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 71 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Rhythm with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Choose Your Own AdventureStrong odds
- + Third-Person ShooterStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + ModernFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + ManagementFair
- + Beat 'em upFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + Choices MatterFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Combat RacingFair
Comparable games
Melatonin 2022 · $3.4M 
AudioSurf 2008 · $2.7M 
Audiosurf 2 2015 · $2.4M 
DEEMO -Reborn- 2020 · $2.4M 
Super Hexagon 2012 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Melatonin | older | $14.99 | 7,554 94% | 227k | $3.4M (exactly $3,397,034) | Half Asleep |
| | AudioSurf | older | $9.99 | 8,901 95% | 267k | $2.7M (exactly $2,667,630) | Dylan Fitterer |
| | Audiosurf 2 | older | $14.99 | 5,364 82% | 161k | $2.4M (exactly $2,412,191) | Dylan Fitterer |
| | DEEMO -Reborn- | older | $24.99 | 3,188 87% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,390,044) | Rayark International Limited |
| | Super Hexagon | older | $2.99 | 18,371 97% | 551k | $1.6M (exactly $1,647,879) | Terry Cavanagh |
 | FIGHT KNIGHT | older | $19.99 | 1,547 91% | 46k | $928k (exactly $927,736) | Team Sorcerobe |
 | Slash It | older | $39.99 | 767 88% | 23k | $920k (exactly $920,170) | EGAMER |
 | The Jackbox Party Pack 10 | older | $29.99 | 500 65% | 15k | $450k (exactly $449,850) | Jackbox Games, Inc. |
 | One Hand Clapping | older | $14.99 | 877 84% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Bad Dream Games |
 | Zup! X | older | $1.99 | 6,480 96% | 194k | $387k (exactly $386,856) | Quiet River |
 | Metro Gravity | $12.99 | 852 92% | 26k | $332k (exactly $332,024) | mrkogamedev | |
 | 30 Birds | $17.99 | 138 96% | 4.1k | $74k (exactly $74,479) | RAM RAM Games, Business Goose Studios | |
 | A Chamber of Stars | $14.99 | 153 99% | 4.6k | $69k (exactly $68,804) | Erik Sheader-Smith, Equation Feeder Gam… (Erik Sheader-Smith, Equation Feeder Games) | |
 | Lord Ambermaze | $14.99 | 131 91% | 3.9k | $59k (exactly $58,911) | Potata Company | |
 | GRIDbeat! | $19.99 | 93 100% | 2.8k | $56k (exactly $55,772) | Ridiculous Games | |
 | Ultimate Drummer | $5.99 | 170 98% | 5.1k | $31k (exactly $30,549) | Cool 3D World | |
 | Home | $7.99 | 124 100% | 3.7k | $30k (exactly $29,723) | Mr.Spoon | |
 | Puppergeist | $4.99 | 156 95% | 4.7k | $23k (exactly $23,353) | Serenity Forge | |
 | DGGWare | $8.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $17,800) | Silkworm | |
 | Skullbreaker | $29.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $12k (exactly $11,696) | Sharkgame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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