Do I ship it?

Games › Puzzle Platformer › Puzzle Platformer + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance Puzzle Platformer?

Puzzle Platformer + Romance

Of 41 developers who shipped a Romance 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.. 38 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $630. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 38 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 38 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Puzzle Platformer + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $1.9k → $1.5k → $3.0k → $1.2k → $1.3k (still earning) → $779 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Puzzle Platformer + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,497)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 5% $22k (exactly $22,018)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 196
Announced 38
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 20% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Puzzle Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Puzzle Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Puzzle, Simulation
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 1,327 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $22k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 9 in 10 of the 50 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Puzzle Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Inventory ManagementFair20 devs · median $1.1k · 26 announced
  2. + Life SimFair20 devs · median $657 · 21 announced
  3. + SimulationFair216 devs · median $479 · 181 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced
  5. + SokobanFair51 devs · median $358 · 49 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds11 devs · median $9.3k · 22 announced
  7. + Co-op CampaignPoor odds26 devs · median $9.0k · 53 announced
  8. + MetroidvaniaPoor odds91 devs · median $5.3k · 264 announced
  9. + SwordplayPoor odds8 devs · median $4.2k · 19 announced
  10. + Split ScreenPoor odds24 devs · median $3.6k · 35 announced
  11. + Hack and SlashPoor odds18 devs · median $3.0k · 80 announced
  12. + Local Co-OpPoor odds82 devs · median $2.7k · 105 announced

All 169 pairs on the Puzzle Platformer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Degrees of Separation 2019 · $606k Maquette 2021 · $372k Long Dream 2023 · $202k FUTA RUNNER: Big Dick Edition 2025 · $154k Eternal Hope 2020 · $129k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Degrees of Separation older $19.99 1,011 80% 30k $606k (exactly $606,297) Moondrop
Maquette older $19.99 620 70% 19k $372k (exactly $371,814) Graceful Decay
Long Dream older $6.99 962 98% 29k $202k (exactly $201,731) WildMonkey
FUTA RUNNER: Big Dick Edition $6.99 733 66% 22k $154k (exactly $153,710) Evil Boobs Cult
Eternal Hope older $11.99 359 83% 11k $129k (exactly $129,132) Doublehit Games
Kakuriyo Village ~Moratorium of Adolescence~ older $24.99 146 75% 4.4k $109k (exactly $109,456) I'm moralist
Wanna Make It older $10.99 293 97% 8.8k $97k (exactly $96,602) CQGAME
Paper Bride 7 Lethal Bond $9.99 218 92% 6.5k $65k (exactly $65,335) HeartBeat Plus
Body Pay older $7.99 157 75% 4.7k $38k (exactly $37,633) Cheese Burger Studio
A Fold Apart older $9.99 96 77% 2.9k $29k (exactly $28,771) Lightning Rod Games
Streaming ON! VTuber Training $6.99 105 65% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,018) Momentum Games
Monospaced Lovers $19.99 30 90% 900 $18k (exactly $17,991) Scarlet String Studios
Body Pay "OMG! The girl with the big titties is too hitting on me!" $4.99 117 73% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,515) Cheese Burger Studio
Smack Monkey $9.99 32 100% 960 $9.6k (exactly $9,590) DrDrub
버튜버 파라노이아 - Vtuber Paranoia $14.99 18 94% 540 $8.1k (exactly $8,095) 유진게임즈
The Day I Became a Bird $19.99 11 100% 330 $6.6k (exactly $6,597) Hyper Luminal Games Ltd
Velvet $2.99 51 94% 1.5k $4.6k (exactly $4,575) Inspite
Nazar $9.99 12 75% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Eray Dinc Studio, Recontact Games

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