Do I ship it?

Games › Puzzle Platformer › Puzzle Platformer + Sokoban

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sokoban Puzzle Platformer?

Puzzle Platformer + Sokoban

Of 51 developers who shipped a Sokoban 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.. 49 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 49 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 49 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Puzzle Platformer + Sokoban
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.1k → $807 → $1.0k → $657 → $300 → $359 (still earning) → $120 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Puzzle Platformer + Sokoban: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $358 (exactly $358)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,799)
Top 5% $28k (exactly $28,448)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 165
Announced 49
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 20% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Sokoban
effort 2 / 10 · high · grid pushing rules and level files

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Puzzle Platformer, Sokoban; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Logic, Puzzle, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 917 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $360, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $28k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. All of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomanceFair41 devs · median $1.5k · 38 announced
  2. + Inventory ManagementFair20 devs · median $1.1k · 26 announced
  3. + Life SimFair20 devs · median $657 · 21 announced
  4. + SimulationFair216 devs · median $479 · 181 announced
  5. + Grid-Based MovementFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 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

Catherine Classic 2019 · $5.3M Poke ALL Toads 2026 · $161k About Love, Hate and the other ones 2014 · $150k Hexologic 2018 · $102k Akin 2016 · $75k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Catherine Classic older $19.99 8,858 88% 266k $5.3M (exactly $5,312,143) ATLUS
Poke ALL Toads $11.99 447 100% 13k $161k (exactly $160,786) SpaceMatra
About Love, Hate and the other ones older $7.99 626 90% 19k $150k (exactly $150,052) Black Pants Studio
Hexologic older $4.99 684 96% 21k $102k (exactly $102,395) MythicOwl
Akin older $4.99 498 86% 15k $75k (exactly $74,551) ThinkOfGames
Larcin Lazer older $9.99 241 99% 7.2k $72k (exactly $72,228) Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini
He Who Watches $19.99 109 96% 3.3k $65k (exactly $65,367) Bobby Vanden
Mess Adventures older $2.99 454 81% 14k $41k (exactly $40,724) Marvelous Games
Waifu Secret older $1.99 677 72% 20k $40k (exactly $40,417) Romantic Room
Button Button Up! older $11.99 93 96% 2.8k $33k (exactly $33,452) Centrosphere Games
HAMSTERMIND $12.99 73 97% 2.2k $28k (exactly $28,448) Righteous Tree
Glowkeeper $14.99 42 97% 1.3k $19k (exactly $18,887) oolimry, bucketfish
Signal Maze $14.99 24 95% 720 $11k (exactly $10,793) theArkitect
Vextorial $8.99 31 96% 930 $8.4k (exactly $8,361) VEXT GAMES
Blockmind · EA $1.99 115 78% 3.5k $6.9k (exactly $6,866) Quacky Games
Grooveyard $4.99 35 100% 1.1k $5.2k (exactly $5,240) GuavaGoose Games
Nexus of Fate $4.99 21 85% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) theNeko
Move That Box $4.99 20 85% 600 $3.0k (exactly $2,994) Crashykk Games

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