Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Boss Rush

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Boss Rush game?

Boss Rush

Of 84 developers who shipped a Boss Rush 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.. 135 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×284 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 135 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 135 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Boss Rush
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 84
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.8k → $23k → $3.3k → $3.0k → $4.2k → $8.1k → $479 (still earning) → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Boss Rush: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 84
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $5.0k (exactly $5,036)
Top 5% $135k (exactly $134,796)
Developers, 2 yr 84
Released games 178
Announced 135
Effort 4 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Boss Rush
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Boss Rush
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 9,290 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $900, 1 in 4 over $5.0k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. Nearly all of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 135 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Boss Rush

21 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. RPG + Boss Rush Fair $1.8k 20 devs
  2. Action Roguelike + Boss Rush Fair $1.6k 20 devs
  3. Boss Rush + Sci-fi Fair $839 17 devs
  4. Shooter + Boss Rush Fair $537 16 devs
  5. Boss Rush + Bullet Hell Fair $479 27 devs
  6. Action-Adventure + Boss Rush Poor odds $3.7k 20 devs
  7. Hack and Slash + Boss Rush Poor odds $3.5k 13 devs
  8. Combat + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.6k 49 devs
  9. Souls-like + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.6k 21 devs
  10. Boss Rush + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $1.6k 17 devs
  11. Action RPG + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.6k 16 devs
  12. Boss Rush + Roguelite Poor odds $1.6k 16 devs
  13. Boss Rush + Female Protagonist Poor odds $1.6k 12 devs
  14. PvE + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.5k 26 devs
  15. Boss Rush + 2D Platformer Poor odds $1.3k 17 devs
  16. Adventure + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.2k 23 devs
  17. Action + Boss Rush Poor odds $1.0k 74 devs
  18. Boss Rush + Fantasy Poor odds $898 23 devs
  19. Boss Rush + Arcade Poor odds $748 32 devs
  20. Boss Rush + Shoot 'Em Up Poor odds $538 13 devs
  21. Boss Rush + Platformer Poor odds $537 15 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tribes of Midgard 2021 · $10M Furi 2016 · $6.7M Titan Souls 2015 · $3.6M Rubinite 2026 · $2.2M Eldest Souls 2021 · $1.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tribes of Midgard older $19.99 17,465 76% 524k $10M (exactly $10,473,760) Norsfell
Furi older $19.99 11,246 90% 337k $6.7M (exactly $6,744,226) The Game Bakers
Titan Souls older $14.99 8,002 82% 240k $3.6M (exactly $3,598,499) Acid Nerve
Rubinite $19.99 3,587 94% 108k $2.2M (exactly $2,151,124) Cup Dog Games, GameWorks Ventures
Eldest Souls older $19.99 3,125 76% 94k $1.9M (exactly $1,874,062) Fallen Flag Studio
Dinoblade $19.99 2,420 90% 73k $1.5M (exactly $1,451,274) Team Spino LLC
Terminator 2D: NO FATE $29.99 1,450 84% 44k $1.3M (exactly $1,304,565) Bitmap Bureau
Jotun: Valhalla Edition older $14.99 2,215 77% 66k $996k (exactly $996,086) Thunder Lotus
NanoApostle older $19.99 1,184 95% 36k $710k (exactly $710,045) 18Light Game Ltd.
The Void Rains Upon Her Heart · EA older $12.99 1,655 99% 50k $645k (exactly $644,954) Veyeral Games
IDLE BOSS RUSH $9.99 820 66% 25k $246k (exactly $245,754) Irid Games
Gurei $15.99 281 83% 8.4k $135k (exactly $134,796) Lobo Sagaz studio
UNYIELDER $24.99 117 62% 3.5k $88k (exactly $87,715) TrueWorld Studios
Second Stellar · EA $4.99 334 99% 10k $50k (exactly $50,000) Pepperlog
ZOE Begone! $9.99 141 100% 4.2k $42k (exactly $42,258) Retchy Games
Leftovers KO! $9.99 92 66% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,572) Mountain Man Animation
Box Knight $14.99 48 93% 1.4k $22k (exactly $21,586) We Made A Thing Studios

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