Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Robots
Should I ship a Robot Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Robots
Of 148 developers who shipped a Robot Puzzle 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.. 211 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×350 the market median. Revenue is up 110% on the market; 211 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $4.3k (exactly $4,286) |
| Top 5% | $220k (exactly $219,527) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 148 |
| Released games | 534 |
| Announced | 211 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 110% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Logic, Action
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 11,411 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 87 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 211 games are announced against 78 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Stray 2022 · $142M 
Atomic Heart 2023 · $75M 
The Talos Principle 2014 · $26M 
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S: HELP WANTED 2019 · $11M 
Machinarium 2009 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stray | older | $29.99 | 157,579 97% | 4.7M | $142M (exactly $141,773,826) | BlueTwelve Studio |
| | Atomic Heart | older | $59.99 | 41,690 81% | 1.3M | $75M (exactly $75,029,493) | Mundfish |
| | The Talos Principle | older | $29.99 | 29,237 95% | 877k | $26M (exactly $26,304,529) | Croteam |
| | FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S: HELP WANTED | older | $29.99 | 12,257 95% | 368k | $11M (exactly $11,027,623) | Steel Wool Studios |
| | Machinarium | older | $19.99 | 17,552 95% | 527k | $11M (exactly $10,525,934) | Amanita Design |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 | older | $39.99 | 5,092 94% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,108,872) | Steel Wool Studios |
 | The Turing Test | older | $24.99 | 6,246 87% | 187k | $4.7M (exactly $4,682,626) | BULKHEAD |
 | Haydee | older | $14.99 | 6,226 84% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,799,832) | Haydee Interactive |
 | Mars First Logistics | $19.99 | 3,497 94% | 105k | $2.1M (exactly $2,097,151) | Shape Shop | |
 | INDUSTRIA | older | $19.99 | 3,053 73% | 92k | $1.8M (exactly $1,830,884) | Bleakmill |
 | The Talos Principle: Reawakened | $39.99 | 1,085 90% | 33k | $1.3M (exactly $1,301,674) | Croteam | |
 | Hail to the Rainbow | $14.99 | 2,533 90% | 76k | $1.1M (exactly $1,139,090) | Носков Сергей | |
 | Mind Over Magnet | $9.99 | 1,344 89% | 40k | $403k (exactly $402,797) | Game Maker's Toolkit | |
 | Europa | $14.99 | 778 85% | 23k | $350k (exactly $349,867) | Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadu… (Helder Pinto, Chozabu (Alex PB), Novadust Entertainment) | |
 | Moon Mystery | $19.99 | 551 67% | 17k | $330k (exactly $330,435) | Cosmoscouts | |
 | Craftomation 101: Programming & Craft | $14.99 | 636 83% | 19k | $286k (exactly $286,009) | Luden.io | |
 | Reach | $29.99 | 244 66% | 7.3k | $220k (exactly $219,527) | nDreams Elevation | |
 | Lab Rat | $19.99 | 365 97% | 11k | $219k (exactly $218,890) | Chump Squad | |
 | JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | $17.99 | 378 76% | 11k | $204k (exactly $204,007) | Prof. Scherer |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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