Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Space
Should I ship a Space Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Space
Of 277 developers who shipped a Space 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.. 361 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×128 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 361 games are announced against 155 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 5% | $80k (exactly $80,073) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 277 |
| Released games | 1,005 |
| Announced | 361 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 100% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 33,070 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 148 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 361 games are announced against 155 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order™ 2019 · $184M 
Outer Wilds 2020 · $67M 
LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga 2022 · $57M 
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 2022 · $20M 
LEGO® Star Wars™ - The Complete Saga 2009 · $12M | 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 |
| | Outer Wilds | older | $24.99 | 89,506 95% | 2.7M | $67M (exactly $67,102,648) | Mobius Digital |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga | older | $49.99 | 38,294 90% | 1.1M | $57M (exactly $57,429,512) | TT Games |
| | Hardspace: Shipbreaker | older | $34.99 | 19,431 89% | 583k | $20M (exactly $20,396,721) | Blackbird Interactive |
| | LEGO® Star Wars™ - The Complete Saga | older | $19.99 | 20,768 96% | 623k | $12M (exactly $12,454,570) | Traveller's Tales |
 | COCOON | older | $24.99 | 7,961 94% | 239k | $6.0M (exactly $5,968,362) | Geometric Interactive |
 | Deliver Us The Moon | older | $24.99 | 7,510 87% | 225k | $5.6M (exactly $5,630,247) | KeokeN Interactive |
 | ROUTINE | $24.99 | 7,322 91% | 220k | $5.5M (exactly $5,489,303) | Lunar Software | |
 | LOCKDOWN Protocol | $9.99 | 16,605 86% | 498k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) | Mirage Creative Lab | |
 | The Turing Test | older | $24.99 | 6,246 87% | 187k | $4.7M (exactly $4,682,626) | BULKHEAD |
 | Revenge of the Savage Planet | $29.99 | 2,845 86% | 85k | $2.6M (exactly $2,559,646) | Raccoon Logic Studios Inc. | |
 | The Message from Deep Space | $9.99 | 1,453 96% | 44k | $435k (exactly $435,464) | Applesinmypants | |
 | SCP: Fragmented Minds | · EA | $9.99 | 1,246 91% | 37k | $373k (exactly $373,426) | HST Studios |
 | Moon Mystery | $19.99 | 551 67% | 17k | $330k (exactly $330,435) | Cosmoscouts | |
 | Cybernetic Fault | $14.99 | 679 78% | 20k | $305k (exactly $305,346) | Whale Rock Games | |
 | Together: Moon Escape | $9.99 | 868 90% | 26k | $260k (exactly $260,140) | CarlosGameDev | |
 | Machinika: Atlas | $11.99 | 574 76% | 17k | $206k (exactly $206,468) | Littlefield Studio | |
 | Eventide Matter | $5.99 | 927 95% | 28k | $167k (exactly $166,582) | Ottropi Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.