Should I ship a Sokoban?
Sokoban
Of 316 developers who shipped a Sokoban 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.. 305 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $550, ×4.6 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $120. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 305 games are announced against 170 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $551 (exactly $551) |
| Top 25% | $2.5k (exactly $2,512) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $24,284) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 316 |
| Released games | 1,006 |
| Announced | 305 |
| Effort | 2 / 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 up 10% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sokoban
- effort 2 / 10 · high · grid pushing rules and level files
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Sokoban
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 98% positive over 2,850 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. Nearly all of the 171 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 305 games are announced against 170 developers who shipped in the last year.
All pairs with Sokoban
- Collectathon + Sokoban Fair $2.4k
- Turn-Based Strategy + Sokoban Fair $2.1k
- Logic + Sokoban Fair $718
- Grid-Based Movement + Sokoban Fair $657
- Puzzle + Sokoban Fair $599
- 3D Platformer + Sokoban Fair $599
- Programming + Sokoban Fair $599
- Strategy + Sokoban Fair $539
- Puzzle Platformer + Sokoban Fair $358
- Open World + Sokoban Poor odds $19k
- Tactical + Sokoban Poor odds $2.5k
- Dungeon Crawler + Sokoban Poor odds $1.8k
- Adventure + Sokoban Poor odds $1.6k
- Platformer + Sokoban Poor odds $1.5k
- Exploration + Sokoban Poor odds $1.0k
- RPG + Sokoban Poor odds $776
- Multiple Endings + Sokoban Poor odds $716
- Turn-Based Tactics + Sokoban Poor odds $628
- 2D Platformer + Sokoban Poor odds $599
- Hidden Object + Sokoban Poor odds $551
- Action + Sokoban Poor odds $505
- Arcade + Sokoban Poor odds $359
- Simulation + Sokoban Poor odds $359
- Level Editor + Sokoban Poor odds $300
- Turn-Based + Sokoban Dead $8.8k
- Match 3 + Sokoban Dead $899
- Action-Adventure + Sokoban Dead $359
- Mystery Dungeon + Sokoban Dead $298
- Physics + Sokoban Dead $240
- Point & Click + Sokoban Dead $239
- Sokoban + Solitaire Dead $239
- Choices Matter + Sokoban Dead $180
- Sokoban + Incremental Dead $148
- Board Game + Sokoban Dead $90
- Sokoban + Tabletop Dead $89
- Score Attack + Sokoban Dead $0
Comparable games
Baba Is You 2019 · $9.4M 
Catherine Classic 2019 · $5.3M 
Patrick's Parabox 2022 · $3.0M 
Stephen's Sausage Roll 2016 · $1.4M 
Void Stranger 2023 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Baba Is You | older | $14.99 | 21,011 97% | 630k | $9.4M (exactly $9,448,647) | Hempuli Oy |
| | Catherine Classic | older | $19.99 | 8,858 88% | 266k | $5.3M (exactly $5,312,143) | ATLUS |
| | Patrick's Parabox | older | $19.99 | 4,985 99% | 150k | $3.0M (exactly $2,989,504) | Patrick Traynor |
| | Stephen's Sausage Roll | older | $29.99 | 1,588 96% | 48k | $1.4M (exactly $1,428,724) | increpare games |
| | Void Stranger | older | $11.99 | 3,307 91% | 99k | $1.2M (exactly $1,189,528) | System Erasure |
 | A Monster's Expedition | older | $19.99 | 1,594 94% | 48k | $956k (exactly $955,922) | Draknek & Friends |
 | Isles of Sea and Sky | older | $19.99 | 1,538 91% | 46k | $922k (exactly $922,339) | Cicada Games |
 | Paper Trail | older | $19.99 | 726 94% | 22k | $435k (exactly $435,382) | Newfangled Games |
 | Paquerette Down the Bunburrows | older | $11.99 | 1,115 96% | 33k | $401k (exactly $401,066) | Bunstack |
 | Wilmot Works It Out | $14.99 | 767 97% | 23k | $345k (exactly $344,920) | Hollow Ponds, Richard Hogg, Talha Kaya | |
 | Lab Rat | $19.99 | 365 97% | 11k | $219k (exactly $218,890) | Chump Squad | |
 | Poke ALL Toads | $11.99 | 447 100% | 13k | $161k (exactly $160,786) | SpaceMatra | |
 | Gentoo Rescue | $19.99 | 237 99% | 7.1k | $142k (exactly $142,129) | Jagriff | |
 | Treasure 'n Trio | $14.99 | 242 100% | 7.3k | $109k (exactly $108,827) | TNT | |
 | Theta and Paralldox on Worldlines | $9.99 | 276 97% | 8.3k | $83k (exactly $82,717) | XXela | |
 | 868-BACK | $19.99 | 122 98% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Michael Brough | |
 | He Who Watches | $19.99 | 109 96% | 3.3k | $65k (exactly $65,367) | Bobby Vanden | |
 | Lord Ambermaze | $14.99 | 131 91% | 3.9k | $59k (exactly $58,911) | Potata Company | |
 | Loophole | $9.99 | 154 99% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $46,154) | Levi Pinkert |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.