Games › Strategy › Strategy + Puzzle Platformer
Should I ship a Puzzle Platformer Strategy game?
Strategy + Puzzle Platformer
Of 315 developers who shipped a Puzzle Platformer Strategy game 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.. 300 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 172 developers shipped in the last year and 300 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $150 (exactly $150) |
| Top 25% | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 5% | $11k (exactly $10,793) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 315 |
| Released games | 1,080 |
| Announced | 300 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Puzzle Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Puzzle Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Platformer
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.00 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.00 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 3,811 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. Nearly all of the 174 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 300 games are announced against 172 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Braid 2009 · $3.1M 
Monument Valley 2022 · $1.8M 
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
Train Valley 2 2019 · $1.1M 
The Bridge 2013 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Braid | older | $14.99 | 6,941 93% | 208k | $3.1M (exactly $3,121,368) | Number None |
| | Monument Valley | older | $7.99 | 7,582 98% | 227k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,405) | ustwo games |
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Train Valley 2 | older | $14.99 | 2,356 90% | 71k | $1.1M (exactly $1,059,493) | Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timof… (Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timofey Shargorodskiy, Flazm) |
| | The Bridge | older | $9.99 | 3,425 87% | 103k | $1.0M (exactly $1,026,472) | Ty Taylor, Vega Castañeda |
 | I am an Air Traffic Controller 4 | older | $59.99 | 566 79% | 17k | $1.0M (exactly $1,018,630) | TechnoBrain |
 | Monument Valley 3 | $14.99 | 2,155 93% | 65k | $969k (exactly $969,104) | ustwo games | |
 | Monument Valley 2 | older | $7.99 | 3,526 93% | 106k | $845k (exactly $845,182) | ustwo games |
 | FRAMED Collection | older | $9.99 | 2,336 94% | 70k | $700k (exactly $700,099) | Loveshack Entertainment |
 | Carcassonne - Tiles & Tactics | older | $9.99 | 1,978 83% | 59k | $593k (exactly $592,807) | Artefacts Studio |
 | Poke ALL Toads | $11.99 | 447 100% | 13k | $161k (exactly $160,786) | SpaceMatra | |
 | Piece by Piece | $12.99 | 233 100% | 7.0k | $91k (exactly $90,800) | Neon Polygons | |
 | Drill Bird | $4.99 | 379 97% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Sebastian Larsson, Andrea Harty, Hampus… (Sebastian Larsson, Andrea Harty, Hampus Melin , Isabelle Neuman, Luiza Flores da Cunha) | |
 | HAMSTERMIND | $12.99 | 73 97% | 2.2k | $28k (exactly $28,448) | Righteous Tree | |
 | Stardust Skate | $2.99 | 299 98% | 9.0k | $27k (exactly $26,820) | VchiBan, Aetha | |
 | Darkway: Murder of King Mere | $7.99 | 78 97% | 2.3k | $19k (exactly $18,697) | IM/MORTAL Studios, Pierce Papke / Ekpap | |
 | BOULDER DASH 40th Anniversary | $19.99 | 31 83% | 930 | $19k (exactly $18,591) | BBG Entertainment GmbH | |
 | Bauhaus Bonk | $7.99 | 73 100% | 2.2k | $17k (exactly $17,498) | Spoonful Games | |
 | It's On The Mouse | $11.99 | 43 81% | 1.3k | $15k (exactly $15,467) | XryEcho |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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