Games › Shoot 'Em Up › Shoot 'Em Up + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Shoot 'Em Up?
Shoot 'Em Up + Puzzle
Of 33 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
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 $22k, ×48 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 5% | $23k (exactly $22,777) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 186 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Shoot 'Em Up, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Linear, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 553 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Shoot 'Em Up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FaithFair
- + RomanceFair
- + VampiresFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + SwordplayLong shot
- + MusicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
Comparable games
Out There Somewhere 2016 · $1.8M 
Patch Quest 2023 · $925k 
LEWDAPOCALYPSE Hentai Evil 2020 · $892k 
Ikaruga 2014 · $658k 
Airscape - The Fall of Gravity 2015 · $344k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Out There Somewhere | older | $9.99 | 6,160 92% | 185k | $1.8M (exactly $1,846,152) | MiniBoss |
| | Patch Quest | older | $14.99 | 2,058 94% | 62k | $925k (exactly $925,483) | Lychee Game Labs |
| | LEWDAPOCALYPSE Hentai Evil | older | $4.99 | 5,960 94% | 179k | $892k (exactly $892,212) | KG/AM |
| | Ikaruga | older | $9.99 | 2,197 95% | 66k | $658k (exactly $658,441) | TREASURE |
| | Airscape - The Fall of Gravity | older | $4.99 | 2,295 81% | 69k | $344k (exactly $343,562) | Cross-Product |
 | Super Time Force Ultra | older | $14.99 | 677 90% | 20k | $304k (exactly $304,447) | Capybara Games |
 | Darwinia | older | $11.99 | 781 78% | 23k | $281k (exactly $280,926) | Introversion Software |
 | Disassembly 3D | older | $29.99 | 309 81% | 9.3k | $278k (exactly $278,007) | Khor Chin Heong |
 | Disassembly VR | older | $29.99 | 157 59% | 4.7k | $141k (exactly $141,253) | Khor Chin Heong |
 | Hentai Crush | older | $1.99 | 2,248 84% | 67k | $134k (exactly $134,206) | Mature Games |
 | SNAKE GAME ULTRA CORE | $29.99 | 89 88% | 2.7k | $80k (exactly $80,073) | Galactic Geckon | |
 | Project Tower | $9.99 | 76 75% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Yummy Games | |
 | Vendetta Forever | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Meatspace Interactive | |
 | Sausage Hunter | · EA | $4.99 | 125 88% | 3.8k | $19k (exactly $18,712) | Banger Chasers |
 | Blitzkrieg Express | $4.99 | 121 74% | 3.6k | $18k (exactly $18,114) | Maksym Melnyk | |
 | Mousebusters | $12.99 | 33 96% | 990 | $13k (exactly $12,860) | Odencat | |
 | KIPIDON: We Will Always Love You | $7.99 | 34 100% | 1.0k | $8.2k (exactly $8,150) | JCPORTALS | |
 | Cure for Danmaku Synd | $6.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $3.6k (exactly $3,565) | ToAge | |
 | Nauts | $8.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Jorge A. García González, Carlos Álvare… (Jorge A. García González, Carlos Álvarez-Nava González) | |
 | D.A.R - Deadly Alien Rogues | $4.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Delicious Software |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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