Do I ship it?

GamesActionAction + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click Action game?

Action + Point & Click

Of 261 developers who shipped a Point & Click Action 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.. 275 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 151 developers shipped in the last year and 275 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 275 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 261
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $570 → $719 → $535 → $299 → $1.2k → $239 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 261
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $2.1k (exactly $2,098)
Top 5% $54k (exactly $53,514)
Developers, 2 yr 261
Released games 947
Announced 275
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 35% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Point & Click; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 181,454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $300, 1 in 4 over $2.0k, 1 in 20 over $53k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 151 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 275 games are announced against 151 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dispatch $29.99 174,624 97% 5.2M $157M (exactly $157,109,213) AdHoc Studio
The Henry Stickmin Collection older $14.99 55,826 98% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,104,952) PuffballsUnited
The Walking Dead older $14.99 53,650 97% 1.6M $24M (exactly $24,126,405) Telltale Games
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc older $19.99 36,194 96% 1.1M $22M (exactly $21,705,542) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games)
Life is Strange: Before the Storm older $16.99 33,504 93% 1.0M $17M (exactly $17,076,989) Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Fer… (Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux))
The Wolf Among Us older $14.99 32,494 97% 975k $15M (exactly $14,612,552) Telltale
The Walking Dead: Season Two older $14.99 26,848 96% 805k $12M (exactly $12,073,546) Telltale Games
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter older $29.99 12,076 80% 362k $11M (exactly $10,864,777) Frogwares
The Walking Dead: The Final Season older $19.99 17,447 94% 523k $10M (exactly $10,462,966) Telltale Games
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension older $12.99 24,144 97% 724k $9.4M (exactly $9,408,917) Draw Me A Pixel
Spooky Milk Life · EA $11.99 1,216 74% 36k $437k (exactly $437,395) MangoMango, Studio Ginkgo
Last Report $4.99 2,423 89% 73k $363k (exactly $362,723) Monopixel Games
Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile $39.99 221 78% 6.6k $265k (exactly $265,134) Microids Studio Lyon
Chicken Police: Into the HIVE! $19.99 374 80% 11k $224k (exactly $224,288) The Wild Gentlemen
Philna Fantasy $14.99 477 52% 14k $215k (exactly $214,507) Sailike Game
Agreeee $4.99 1,150 74% 35k $172k (exactly $172,155) べすとまん
The Trolley Solution $9.99 574 77% 17k $172k (exactly $172,028) byDanDans
House 2 $19.99 154 89% 4.6k $92k (exactly $92,354) Bark Bark Games
Exploring the Big Apple $9.99 241 73% 7.2k $72k (exactly $72,228) SadPepper

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