Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Souls-like?
Souls-like + Puzzle
Of 37 developers who shipped a Puzzle Souls-like 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.. 91 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.3k, ×2.2 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×1085 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 91 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $27,891) |
| Top 5% | $1.6M (exactly $1,625,350) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 157 |
| Announced | 91 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 11,953 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
Ori and the Will of the Wisps 2020 · $122M 
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga 2022 · $57M 
Darksiders III 2018 · $15M 
TUNIC 2022 · $15M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ | older | $39.99 | 153,782 88% | 4.6M | $184M (exactly $184,492,265) | Respawn Entertainment |
| | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | older | $29.99 | 136,019 96% | 4.1M | $122M (exactly $122,376,294) | Moon Studios GmbH |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
| | Darksiders III | older | $39.99 | 12,519 75% | 376k | $15M (exactly $15,019,044) | Gunfire Games |
| | TUNIC | older | $29.99 | 16,692 91% | 501k | $15M (exactly $15,017,792) | TUNIC Team |
 | Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition | older | $29.99 | 16,313 78% | 489k | $15M (exactly $14,676,806) | Gunfire Games, Vigil Games, THQ Nordic |
 | Hell is Us | $49.99 | 4,279 83% | 128k | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) | Rogue Factor | |
 | The Wind Road | older | $29.99 | 5,920 69% | 178k | $5.3M (exactly $5,326,224) | 甘肃嘉元数字科技有限公司 |
 | Titan Souls | older | $14.99 | 8,002 82% | 240k | $3.6M (exactly $3,598,499) | Acid Nerve |
 | PICO PARK | older | $4.99 | 23,751 91% | 713k | $3.6M (exactly $3,555,525) | TECOPARK |
 | Alabaster Dawn | · EA | $24.99 | 2,168 94% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,625,350) | Radical Fish Games |
 | Fever Meme | $4.20 | 4,358 91% | 131k | $549k (exactly $549,108) | Aimbok | |
 | ENTITY: THE BLACK DAY | $17.99 | 494 79% | 15k | $267k (exactly $266,612) | ASD Games Studio | |
 | Retrace the Light | $17.99 | 170 85% | 5.1k | $92k (exactly $91,749) | Xiaming Game | |
 | Tracery of Fate | $19.99 | 129 73% | 3.9k | $77k (exactly $77,361) | Sign Narva | |
 | Outrider Mako | $17.99 | 121 65% | 3.6k | $65k (exactly $65,304) | Asamado Games | |
 | GIGASWORD | $14.99 | 108 75% | 3.2k | $49k (exactly $48,568) | Studio Hybrid | |
 | Soul Mates | · EA | $12.99 | 95 97% | 2.9k | $37k (exactly $37,022) | Sad Panda Studios |
 | Slime Heroes | $29.99 | 31 67% | 930 | $28k (exactly $27,891) | Pancake Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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