Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + Puzzle Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Platformer Tactical game?

Tactical + Puzzle Platformer

Of 52 developers who shipped a Puzzle Platformer Tactical 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.. 45 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $0 in the last 2 years and $60 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 6 / 10 build. 30 developers shipped in the last year and 45 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 45 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Puzzle Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $179 → $269 → $30 → $180 → $0 → $60 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Puzzle Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $0 (exactly $0)
Top 25% $449 (exactly $449)
Top 5% $5.2k (exactly $5,194)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 166
Announced 45
Effort 6 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Puzzle Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Platformer
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $7.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Family Friendly
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $7.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 295 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 $0, 1 in 4 over $440, 1 in 20 over $5.1k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 45 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Timelie 2020 · $962k Zup! 7 2017 · $134k Ready, Steady, Ship! 2024 · $46k Bomb The Monsters! 2015 · $33k Ball Torture 2022 · $27k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Timelie older $17.99 1,783 95% 53k $962k (exactly $962,285) Urnique Studio
Zup! 7 older $1.99 2,246 95% 67k $134k (exactly $134,086) Quiet River
Ready, Steady, Ship! older $14.99 103 66% 3.1k $46k (exactly $46,319) Jollybits Games
Bomb The Monsters! older $4.99 221 77% 6.6k $33k (exactly $33,084) Finalboss game studio
Ball Torture older $9.99 90 82% 2.7k $27k (exactly $26,973) SufferSoft
Brain Break older $4.99 164 75% 4.9k $25k (exactly $24,551) Astralis Games
Astronimo older $14.99 47 80% 1.4k $21k (exactly $21,136) Coatsink
Bauhaus Bonk $7.99 73 100% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) Spoonful Games
Vandals older $4.99 81 76% 2.4k $12k (exactly $12,126) Cosmografik, Novelab, Ex Nihilo, ARTE F… (Cosmografik, Novelab, Ex Nihilo, ARTE France)
Jumpala older $9.99 33 69% 990 $9.9k (exactly $9,890) Yokereba Games
Break The Chain · EA $4.99 63 39% 1.9k $9.4k (exactly $9,431) Devlo Games
Hero Guider $1.99 87 98% 2.6k $5.2k (exactly $5,194) BestQ
Doggy Up! $3.99 20 90% 600 $2.4k (exactly $2,394) Feas
ORPHEUS: TO HELL AND BACK $2.99 25 68% 750 $2.2k (exactly $2,242) StudioLoading, Kibou Entertainment, Alu… (StudioLoading, Kibou Entertainment, Alunite,Inc.)
Bomb Squad $14.99 4 100% 120 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) International Headquarters
Getting Stronger $3.99 10 100% 300 $1.2k (exactly $1,197) Jestercraft
Neanderthallica $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Cheers LLC
Gallery Theft · EA $9.99 3 33% 90 $899 (exactly $899) Hard Shark Games
The Upper Hand $4.99 6 100% 180 $898 (exactly $898) Brain Syringe Studios LLC

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