Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Sokoban

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Sokoban RPG?

RPG + Sokoban

Only 14 developers shipped a Sokoban RPG in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Lord Ambermaze, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $780, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×94 the market median. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 18 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 95% on the market, 18 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Sokoban
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $535 → $119 → $2.4k → $776 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Sokoban: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $358 (exactly $358)
Median $776 (exactly $776)
Top 25% $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 5% $59k (exactly $58,911)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 51
Announced 18
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $1.99

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 95% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
RPG, Sokoban; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Character Customization, Dungeon Crawler
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 307 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $780, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $58k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ittle Dew older $19.99 481 92% 14k $288k (exactly $288,456) Ludosity
Seek Girl Ⅶ older $1.99 1,197 70% 36k $71k (exactly $71,461) DSGame
Seek Girl Ⅵ older $1.99 1,099 77% 33k $66k (exactly $65,610) DSGame
Lord Ambermaze $14.99 131 91% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Potata Company
Seek Girl V older $1.99 920 72% 28k $55k (exactly $54,924) DSGame
藏梦 Hidden Dream older $12.99 51 82% 1.5k $20k (exactly $19,875) 锈钻游戏工作室
Waifus Smash older $2.99 205 78% 6.2k $18k (exactly $18,388) Galart
Snowman Story older $4.99 120 94% 3.6k $18k (exactly $17,964) Odencat
Piggy Gambit older $7.99 48 93% 1.4k $12k (exactly $11,506) Tofu Soup
黎明为歌 - Melody before the Dawn older $4.99 62 88% 1.9k $9.3k (exactly $9,281) Rolling Cat Studio
Demon Corporation: Onboarding $6.99 42 95% 1.3k $8.8k (exactly $8,807) A Shrine of Ludens
刻印战记1:法利兹传 $8.99 13 53% 390 $3.5k (exactly $3,506) Lycian Studio
Dungeonborne Settlement $4.99 16 56% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) Dersty
Margarita (Berkeley's Maid: Remake Edition) · EA $1.60 43 60% 1.3k $2.1k (exactly $2,064) Muharukahana Studio, Cydron
7 Days Before the End $0.99 29 100% 870 $861 (exactly $861) TrucyAkina
Fluffy Arena $1.99 13 100% 390 $776 (exactly $776) Pet Party
博物魅影 $1.99 12 91% 360 $716 (exactly $716) 图南工作室(Tunan Studio)
Milo's Dream $5.99 2 100% 60 $359 (exactly $359) lightUP
Dark Flowers: Tiny Starlight $1.99 6 100% 180 $358 (exactly $358) Dawnwing House

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