Do I ship it?

Games › Tower Defense › Tower Defense + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Tower Defense?

Tower Defense + Puzzle

Of 64 developers who shipped a Puzzle Tower Defense 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.. 67 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 320% on the market; 67 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 320% on the market, 67 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tower Defense + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $718 → $1.5k → $1.4k → $657 → $1.6k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tower Defense + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,994)
Top 5% $294k (exactly $293,597)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 197
Announced 67
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 up 320% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Tower Defense, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 5,618 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tower Defense with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DwarvesStrong odds10 devs · median $6.7k · 9 announced
  2. + MiningFair33 devs · median $6.3k · 45 announced
  3. + Survival HorrorFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 20 announced
  5. + TanksFair14 devs · median $1.5k · 13 announced
  6. + MechsFair24 devs · median $1.5k · 24 announced
  7. + IdlerFair108 devs · median $1.2k · 136 announced
  8. + Gun CustomizationFair26 devs · median $958 · 32 announced
  9. + LogicFair40 devs · median $955 · 44 announced
  10. + On-Rails ShooterFair11 devs · median $899 · 12 announced
  11. + Psychological HorrorFair8 devs · median $897 · 8 announced
  12. + Turn-Based CombatFair28 devs · median $839 · 34 announced

All 150 pairs on the Tower Defense page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition 2009 · $21M Artisan TD 2024 · $1.1M GemCraft - Chasing Shadows 2015 · $1.1M ShapeHero Factory 2025 · $713k Dungeon Warfare 2015 · $578k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition older $4.99 143,506 97% 4.3M $21M (exactly $21,482,848) PopCap Games, Inc.
Artisan TD older $16.99 2,237 88% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,140,199) 4rtisans
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows older $9.99 3,659 95% 110k $1.1M (exactly $1,096,602) Game in a Bottle
ShapeHero Factory $23.99 991 88% 30k $713k (exactly $713,223) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Dungeon Warfare older $9.99 1,930 95% 58k $578k (exactly $578,421) Valsar
Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break older $14.99 1,259 78% 38k $566k (exactly $566,172) ACE Team, Giant Monkey Robot
Progressbar95 older $4.99 3,473 96% 104k $520k (exactly $519,908) Igor Uduslivii
Titanium Court $14.99 1,094 94% 33k $492k (exactly $491,972) AP Thomson
Outhold $6.99 1,818 86% 55k $381k (exactly $381,235) Tellus Games
Isle of Arrows older $12.99 937 80% 28k $365k (exactly $365,149) Gridpop
MINOS $17.99 544 88% 16k $294k (exactly $293,597) Artificer
Ghost Master: Resurrection $19.99 374 82% 11k $224k (exactly $224,288) Mechano Story Studio
Tech Blast $39.99 90 92% 2.7k $108k (exactly $107,973) Galactic Geckon
Yokai Art 2: Tales of the Nine-Tails $9.99 314 75% 9.4k $94k (exactly $94,106) Secret Labo
Cyber Tower 2048 $29.99 92 88% 2.8k $83k (exactly $82,772) Galactic Geckon
ITER-8 $12.99 161 70% 4.8k $63k (exactly $62,742) fluckyMachine
Castle Doombad Classic $9.99 140 95% 4.2k $42k (exactly $41,958) Grumpyface Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.