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Should I ship a Choices Matter 2D Platformer?
Choices Matter + 2D Platformer
Of 221 developers who shipped a Choices Matter 2D Platformer 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.. 326 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, ×1.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×238 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 326 games are announced against 133 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $657 (exactly $657) |
| Top 25% | $5.5k (exactly $5,513) |
| Top 5% | $113k (exactly $113,209) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 221 |
| Released games | 557 |
| Announced | 326 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- 2D Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, 2D Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 11,568 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 106 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 326 games are announced against 133 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 
Afterimage 2023 · $5.2M 
Anomaly Agent 2024 · $3.4M 
Forgotton Anne 2018 · $987k 
Fate/hollow ataraxia REMASTERED 2025 · $854k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Night in the Woods | older | $19.99 | 17,760 94% | 533k | $11M (exactly $10,650,672) | Infinite Fall |
| | Afterimage | older | $24.99 | 6,929 79% | 208k | $5.2M (exactly $5,194,671) | Aurogon Shanghai |
| | Anomaly Agent | older | $11.99 | 9,463 94% | 284k | $3.4M (exactly $3,403,841) | Phew Phew Games |
| | Forgotton Anne | older | $19.99 | 1,646 89% | 49k | $987k (exactly $987,106) | Throughline Games |
| | Fate/hollow ataraxia REMASTERED | $29.99 | 949 96% | 28k | $854k (exactly $853,815) | TYPE-MOON, fuzz Inc. | |
 | Kugayama Shiori's Death Diary | $24.99 | 987 95% | 30k | $740k (exactly $739,954) | Laplacian | |
 | Shovel Knight Dig | older | $24.99 | 822 75% | 25k | $616k (exactly $616,253) | Nitrome, Yacht Club Games |
 | The Dark Queen of Mortholme | $4.99 | 4,075 83% | 122k | $610k (exactly $610,028) | Mosu | |
 | Ultros | older | $24.99 | 787 80% | 24k | $590k (exactly $590,014) | Hadoque |
 | AIR | $29.99 | 639 98% | 19k | $575k (exactly $574,908) | VISUAL ARTS/Key | |
 | BM General Hospital | $7.99 | 1,368 86% | 41k | $328k (exactly $327,910) | zzzgame | |
 | Trainee Death Simulator | $5.99 | 1,746 92% | 52k | $314k (exactly $313,756) | Bone Nail | |
 | Dunjungle | $14.99 | 692 96% | 21k | $311k (exactly $311,192) | Bruno Bombardi | |
 | 緋月仙行錄 | $19.99 | 454 57% | 14k | $272k (exactly $272,264) | 月光草 | |
 | 我的时光：大学日记 | $13.99 | 340 25% | 10k | $143k (exactly $142,698) | WaterWood Studio | |
 | Rogue Blight | $12.99 | 318 91% | 9.5k | $124k (exactly $123,925) | CodeRadGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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