Do I ship it?

Games › PvP › PvP + Puzzle Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a PvP Puzzle Platformer?

PvP + Puzzle Platformer

Of 42 developers who shipped a PvP Puzzle Platformer 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.. 87 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 8 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $330 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $1.5k for a 8 / 10 build. 25 developers shipped in the last year and 87 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 87 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
PvP + Puzzle Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $5.4k → $1.2k → $419 → $564 → $120 → $359 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for PvP + Puzzle Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $330 (exactly $330)
Top 25% $809 (exactly $809)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $11,377)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 154
Announced 87
Effort 8 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 65% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

PvP
effort 8 / 10 · low · authoritative servers, latency compensation, cheating
Puzzle Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
8 / 10 · online systems, open world
Systems
PvP, Puzzle Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Local Multiplayer, Action, Physics
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, Cute, Family Friendly
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,123 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $330, 1 in 4 over $800, 1 in 20 over $11k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 87 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + BaseballFair6 devs · median $7.6k · 9 announced
  2. + TransportationFair10 devs · median $5.7k · 11 announced
  3. + BasketballFair25 devs · median $2.6k · 28 announced
  4. + Football (American)Fair17 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  5. + BikesFair10 devs · median $1.5k · 7 announced
  6. + GolfFair29 devs · median $1.4k · 34 announced
  7. + World War IFair12 devs · median $1.3k · 14 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair36 devs · median $1.2k · 48 announced
  9. + BilliardsFair18 devs · median $1.1k · 12 announced
  10. + TennisLong shot17 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  11. + TypingLong shot28 devs · median $719 · 31 announced
  12. + SpellingLong shot14 devs · median $719 · 17 announced

All 247 pairs on the PvP page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Super Bunny Man 2023 · $4.6M Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics 2017 · $593k TETRIS® THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE- 2025 · $457k Level Devil 2025 · $273k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Super Bunny Man older $14.99 10,143 85% 304k $4.6M (exactly $4,561,307) Catobyte
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition older $16.99 3,096 88% 93k $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics older $9.99 1,978 83% 59k $593k (exactly $592,807) Artefacts Studio
TETRIS® THE GRAND MASTER 4 -ABSOLUTE EYE- $24.99 610 87% 18k $457k (exactly $457,317) ARIKA
Level Devil $6.99 1,304 91% 39k $273k (exactly $273,449) Unept
Antonball Deluxe older $4.99 776 95% 23k $116k (exactly $116,167) Summitsphere
Brain Show: Party Game older $14.99 234 73% 7.0k $105k (exactly $105,230) Simplicity Games
Vectronom older $9.99 263 96% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,821) Ludopium, ARTE France
UFO: Unidentified Falling Objects older $14.99 137 97% 4.1k $62k (exactly $61,609) Andrew Morrish
Aeon Drive older $14.99 136 76% 4.1k $61k (exactly $61,159) 2Awesome Studio
HoloRun $4.99 76 57% 2.3k $11k (exactly $11,377) Pixfox
Animosity $14.99 15 93% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Red River Studio
Fruit Mountain Party $12.99 16 93% 480 $6.2k (exactly $6,235) BeXide Inc.
Bottle Cracks $7.99 20 100% 600 $4.8k (exactly $4,794) Alunova Studios
Ruku's Heart Balloon $8.99 14 100% 420 $3.8k (exactly $3,776) RucKyGAMES
Esophaguys $9.99 11 100% 330 $3.3k (exactly $3,297) Esophaguys Team
Spibee $1.99 51 78% 1.5k $3.0k (exactly $3,045) QZ Studio
Bridge Race $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Garawell Games, Supersonic Studios LTD

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