Do I ship it?

GamesActionAction + Word Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Word Game Action game?

Action + Word Game

Of 51 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 44 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $150 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 32 developers shipped in the last year and 44 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 44 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Word Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 51
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $358 → $539 → $3.6k → $1.6k → $150 → $807 → $180 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Word Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 51
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $150 (exactly $150)
Top 25% $899 (exactly $899)
Top 5% $38k (exactly $38,381)
Developers, 2 yr 51
Released games 149
Announced 44
Effort 5 / 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 up 80% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Word Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Typing, Roguelite, Action Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 2,890 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $150, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $38k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 32 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
Cryptmaster older $24.99 1,671 94% 50k $1.3M (exactly $1,252,749) Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games
Glyphica: Typing Survival · EA $9.99 2,488 90% 75k $746k (exactly $745,654) aliasBLACK
スペルトナエル older $8.99 344 97% 10k $93k (exactly $92,777) おまど
MORSE $13.99 124 93% 3.7k $52k (exactly $52,043) ALJO Games
Trivia Vault: 1980's Trivia 2 older $13.99 98 61% 2.9k $41k (exactly $41,131) Ripknot Systems
はじめるセカイの理想論 -goodbye world index $19.99 64 84% 1.9k $38k (exactly $38,381) Whirlpool
天降锦鲤 ~ My Lucky Koi older $4.99 245 93% 7.4k $37k (exactly $36,676) V.P. TEAM
Trivia Vault: Food Trivia older $13.99 84 65% 2.5k $35k (exactly $35,255) Ripknot Systems
Trivia Vault: Video Game Trivia Deluxe older $14.99 78 62% 2.3k $35k (exactly $35,077) Ripknot Systems
Trivia Vault: Auto Racing Trivia older $13.99 79 78% 2.4k $33k (exactly $33,156) Ripknot Systems
Writer's Block $9.99 34 94% 1.0k $10k (exactly $10,190) SinksAdventure
Typing Ninja $9.99 25 96% 750 $7.5k (exactly $7,492) Brain Boost Ninja
Idiom Royale $1.99 91 63% 2.7k $5.4k (exactly $5,433) NyxWorks
Typomagical $9.99 14 100% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) Sigcom
許願ReadyGo! $6.99 17 94% 510 $3.6k (exactly $3,565) 第一點心
KeyBreach $4.99 21 95% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) sawworm Games
Blightseed $6.99 12 100% 360 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Zen of Mars

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