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Should I ship a Twin Stick Shooter Tower Defense?
Tower Defense + Twin Stick Shooter
Only 12 developers shipped a Twin Stick Shooter Tower Defense 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, The Ember Guardian, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.7k, ×14 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×351 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $19,712) |
| Top 5% | $167k (exactly $166,717) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Twin Stick Shooter
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Tower Defense, Twin Stick Shooter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 557 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tower Defense with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DwarvesStrong odds
- + MiningFair
- + Survival HorrorFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + TanksFair
- + MechsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Gun CustomizationFair
- + LogicFair
- + On-Rails ShooterFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
Comparable games
X-Morph: Defense 2017 · $2.0M 
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M 
Marfusha:Sentinel Girls 2021 · $747k 
Lumencraft 2023 · $651k 
Decision: Red Daze 2022 · $513k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | X-Morph: Defense | older | $19.99 | 3,272 90% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,962,218) | EXOR Studios |
| | ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,953 64% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Marfusha:Sentinel Girls | older | $7.99 | 3,116 93% | 93k | $747k (exactly $746,905) | hinyari9 |
| | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
| | Decision: Red Daze | older | $19.99 | 855 74% | 26k | $513k (exactly $512,743) | FlyAnvil |
 | Yet Another Zombie Defense HD | older | $3.99 | 2,561 84% | 77k | $307k (exactly $306,552) | Awesome Games Studio |
 | Guns n Zombies | older | $7.99 | 790 68% | 24k | $189k (exactly $189,363) | Krealit |
 | The Ember Guardian | $19.99 | 278 82% | 8.3k | $167k (exactly $166,717) | Ratbit Games | |
 | VERSUS SQUAD | older | $7.99 | 527 77% | 16k | $126k (exactly $126,322) | DiezelPower |
 | Over 9000 Zombies! | older | $2.99 | 1,209 87% | 36k | $108k (exactly $108,447) | Loren Lemcke |
 | Kritter: Defend Together | $9.99 | 109 86% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,667) | LJF Games | |
 | Bonelords | $6.99 | 94 92% | 2.8k | $20k (exactly $19,712) | Z0 Game Studios | |
 | Honeymancer | · EA | $12.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $8.6k (exactly $8,573) | Lukas Lundin |
 | Exo Wanderers | · EA | $11.99 | 22 100% | 660 | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) | 什工坊SueStudio |
 | Bumper Blitz TD | $14.99 | 15 86% | 450 | $6.7k (exactly $6,746) | Ragnarok Studios | |
 | ZedFall: Outbreak | · EA | $9.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | CaptainJaySolo |
 | The B.L.O.O.M Initiative | $2.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Trema-Coding | |
 | Steel Hail | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | MegaBanana | |
 | Chroma Blasters | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Atomic Elk |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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