Do I ship it?

Games › Score Attack › Score Attack + Top-Down Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Top-Down Shooter Score Attack game?

Score Attack + Top-Down Shooter

Of 174 developers who shipped a Top-Down Shooter Score Attack 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.. 165 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300, ×0.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59. Revenue is down 50% on the market, with 165 games announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 165 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Score Attack + Top-Down Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 174
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $8.4k → $628 → $479 → $718 → $861 → $179 (still earning) → $119 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Score Attack + Top-Down Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 174
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,998)
Top 5% $392k (exactly $392,144)
Developers, 2 yr 174
Released games 545
Announced 165
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 50% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Score Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Top-Down Shooter
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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
Score Attack, Top-Down Shooter; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Hell, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 87,633 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $390k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. 9 in 10 of the 81 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 165 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MechsFair23 devs · median $6.2k · 24 announced
  2. + Spectacle fighterFair31 devs · median $4.3k · 29 announced
  3. + DragonsFair16 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  4. + VampiresFair16 devs · median $1.7k · 14 announced
  5. + CookingFair28 devs · median $1.4k · 30 announced
  6. + SuperheroFair11 devs · median $1.3k · 5 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair112 devs · median $1.2k · 104 announced
  8. + GolfFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 8 announced
  9. + GothicFair20 devs · median $959 · 14 announced
  10. + ModernFair53 devs · median $899 · 43 announced
  11. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair14 devs · median $898 · 11 announced
  12. + UndergroundFair23 devs · median $748 · 18 announced

All 200 pairs on the Score Attack page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Yet Another Zombie Survivors 2026 · $6.4M The Spell Brigade 2026 · $5.7M 20 Minutes Till Dawn 2023 · $4.2M Greedland 2025 · $1.1M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Yet Another Zombie Survivors $14.99 14,123 91% 424k $6.4M (exactly $6,351,113) Awesome Games Studio
The Spell Brigade $12.99 14,731 80% 442k $5.7M (exactly $5,740,671) Bolt Blaster Games
20 Minutes Till Dawn older $4.99 27,872 90% 836k $4.2M (exactly $4,172,438) flanne
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
DoDonPachi Resurrection older $29.99 982 95% 29k $884k (exactly $883,505) CAVE Interactive CO.,LTD.
Zombie Driver HD older $9.99 2,770 84% 83k $830k (exactly $830,169) Exor Studios
KILL KNIGHT $14.99 1,804 93% 54k $811k (exactly $811,259) PlaySide
Sky Force Reloaded older $9.99 2,687 92% 81k $805k (exactly $805,294) Infinite Dreams
Glyphica: Typing Survival · EA $9.99 2,488 90% 75k $746k (exactly $745,654) aliasBLACK
FatalZone $6.99 2,125 66% 64k $446k (exactly $445,612) Midhard Games
Sektori $14.99 897 96% 27k $403k (exactly $403,381) Kimmo Lahtinen
Achilles: Survivor $8.99 1,454 81% 44k $392k (exactly $392,144) Dark Point Games
Sodaman $7.99 738 78% 22k $177k (exactly $176,899) Tape Corps

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