Games › Top-Down Shooter › Top-Down Shooter + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Top-Down Shooter?
Top-Down Shooter + Puzzle
Of 36 developers who shipped a Puzzle Top-Down Shooter 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.. 59 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 22 developers shipped in the last year and 59 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) |
| Top 5% | $16k (exactly $16,018) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 36 |
| Released games | 155 |
| Announced | 59 |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Top-Down Shooter
- 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
- Top-Down Shooter, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Shooter, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, Top-Down, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,636 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Top-Down Shooter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + VampiresFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + World War IIFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcheryFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Tactical RPGPoor odds
- + Action RTSPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + ModernPoor odds
- + CraftingPoor odds
- + DystopianPoor odds
Comparable games
Darksiders Genesis 2019 · $9.3M 
Door Kickers 2014 · $4.8M 
Endoparasitic 2022 · $878k 
Whisper Mountain Outbreak 2025 · EA · $580k 
Disc Room 2020 · $430k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darksiders Genesis | older | $29.99 | 10,379 82% | 311k | $9.3M (exactly $9,337,986) | Airship Syndicate |
| | Door Kickers | older | $19.99 | 8,041 94% | 241k | $4.8M (exactly $4,822,188) | KillHouse Games |
| | Endoparasitic | older | $9.99 | 2,928 93% | 88k | $878k (exactly $877,522) | Miziziziz |
| | Whisper Mountain Outbreak | · EA | $7.99 | 2,421 84% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,314) | Toge Productions |
| | Disc Room | older | $14.99 | 957 92% | 29k | $430k (exactly $430,363) | Terri, Dose, Kitty, JW |
 | INVERSUS Deluxe | older | $14.99 | 271 88% | 8.1k | $122k (exactly $121,869) | Hypersect |
 | DUSK '82: ULTIMATE EDITION | older | $6.99 | 383 95% | 11k | $80k (exactly $80,315) | David Szymanski |
 | Velocity®Ultra | older | $13.99 | 139 79% | 4.2k | $58k (exactly $58,338) | Curve Studios, FuturLab |
 | Flame Over | older | $11.99 | 146 69% | 4.4k | $53k (exactly $52,516) | Laughing Jackal LTD |
 | OMG Zombies! | older | $4.99 | 347 80% | 10k | $52k (exactly $51,946) | Laughing Jackal LTD |
 | Seek | $4.99 | 107 81% | 3.2k | $16k (exactly $16,018) | cloud_li | |
 | The Zebra-Man! | $14.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) | Zerouno Games, Thunder Zebra | |
 | GOST of Time | $4.99 | 27 100% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | IzHard | |
 | Cure for Danmaku Synd | $6.99 | 17 100% | 510 | $3.6k (exactly $3,565) | ToAge | |
 | Stopping Move | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Just a Little Longer | $7.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | Scott Jund | |
 | JAIL DICE: Roll to Break | $6.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | GyoonyGames | |
 | Drop: Save the Forest | $4.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | Riccardo Giol, Games Greenhouse | |
 | catgirl bloodhunt | $2.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) | quiet4miu |
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.