Do I ship it?

GamesAdventureAdventure + Dynamic Narration

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dynamic Narration Adventure game?

Adventure + Dynamic Narration

Of 154 developers who shipped a Dynamic Narration Adventure 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.. 339 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×528 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 339 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 339 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Adventure + Dynamic Narration
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 154
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.9k → $1.4k → $5.2k → $1.2k → $2.0k → $899 → $1.2k (still earning) → $330 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Adventure + Dynamic Narration: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 154
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $5.4k (exactly $5,395)
Top 5% $251k (exactly $251,011)
Developers, 2 yr 154
Released games 448
Announced 339
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 35% on the market, supply 60% 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.

Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Dynamic Narration
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Adventure, Dynamic Narration; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Exploration, Multiple Endings
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 25,897 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $5.3k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 339 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SamuraiFair13 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  2. + FMVFair144 devs · median $39k · 151 announced
  3. + PinballFair11 devs · median $8.1k · 17 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair40 devs · median $6.3k · 50 announced
  5. + Escape RoomFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  6. + Mini GolfFair12 devs · median $2.2k · 11 announced
  7. + SportsFair228 devs · median $1.5k · 224 announced
  8. + GolfFair18 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair384 devs · median $1.2k · 420 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  11. + Traditional RoguelikeFair89 devs · median $449 · 119 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced

All 279 pairs on the Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Detroit: Become Human older $39.99 226,411 96% 6.8M $272M (exactly $271,625,277) Quantic Dream
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series older $49.99 36,594 96% 1.1M $55M (exactly $54,880,022) Skybound Games
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy older $29.99 35,628 97% 1.1M $32M (exactly $32,054,512) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Beyond: Two Souls older $19.99 37,154 87% 1.1M $22M (exactly $22,281,254) Quantic Dream
The Stanley Parable older $14.99 40,292 92% 1.2M $18M (exactly $18,119,312) Galactic Cafe
Heavy Rain older $19.99 26,503 85% 795k $16M (exactly $15,893,849) Quantic Dream
Road 96 🛣️ older $19.96 22,118 91% 664k $13M (exactly $13,244,258) Digixart
Bastion older $14.99 28,223 95% 847k $13M (exactly $12,691,883) Supergiant Games
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger older $14.99 20,869 94% 626k $9.4M (exactly $9,384,789) Techland
Drova - Forsaken Kin $24.99 9,455 93% 284k $7.1M (exactly $7,088,414) Just2D
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage $39.99 5,873 86% 176k $7.0M (exactly $7,045,838) DON'T NOD
Get To Work $12.99 3,456 88% 104k $1.3M (exactly $1,346,803) Isto Inc.
The Message from Deep Space $9.99 1,453 96% 44k $435k (exactly $435,464) Applesinmypants
My Bimbo Dream $14.99 647 77% 19k $291k (exactly $290,956) MBD
RATSHAKER™ $2.99 3,011 92% 90k $270k (exactly $270,087) Sunscorched Studios
Under The Island $19.99 446 92% 13k $267k (exactly $267,466) Slime King Games
TR-49 $6.99 1,197 94% 36k $251k (exactly $251,011) inkle Ltd
GlitchSPANKR $19.99 275 96% 8.3k $165k (exactly $164,918) Mahelyk, TheClassifiedX
Outpost Legends $39.99 84 95% 2.5k $101k (exactly $100,775) OUT LLL

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