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Should I ship an Intentionally Awkward Controls Adventure game?
Adventure + Intentionally Awkward Controls
Only 16 developers shipped an Intentionally Awkward Controls Adventure game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, WASD : The Adventure of Tori, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 16 more are announced, ×5.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 3 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $2.8k against a market of $480. 16 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $20,236) |
| Top 5% | $87k (exactly $87,381) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 16 |
| 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 75% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Intentionally Awkward Controls
- 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
- Adventure, Intentionally Awkward Controls; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Physics, Action, Arcade
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,064 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. All of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 16 games are announced against 3 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
Octodad: Dadliest Catch 2014 · $4.1M 
I Am Bread 2015 · $1.9M 
Manual Samuel - Last Tuesday Edition 2016 · $456k 
The Game of Sisyphus 2024 · $155k 
Ampu-Tea 2014 · $121k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Octodad: Dadliest Catch | older | $14.99 | 9,101 94% | 273k | $4.1M (exactly $4,092,720) | Young Horses |
| | I Am Bread | older | $12.99 | 4,793 78% | 144k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,832) | Bossa Studios |
| | Manual Samuel - Last Tuesday Edition | older | $9.99 | 1,522 85% | 46k | $456k (exactly $456,143) | Perfectly Paranormal |
| | The Game of Sisyphus | older | $6.99 | 741 79% | 22k | $155k (exactly $155,388) | cream |
| | Ampu-Tea | older | $4.99 | 808 67% | 24k | $121k (exactly $120,958) | ProjectorGames |
 | WASD : The Adventure of Tori | $3.99 | 730 83% | 22k | $87k (exactly $87,381) | EVNA Games | |
 | Simple Fish Adventure | older | $3.99 | 374 88% | 11k | $45k (exactly $44,768) | LostVolBytes |
 | Grandma, No! | $14.99 | 77 89% | 2.3k | $35k (exactly $34,627) | WALLRIDE | |
 | Ria's Hook | older | $2.99 | 359 83% | 11k | $32k (exactly $32,202) | Fossil |
 | ACUVAC: A Suck and Blow Adventure | $14.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $24k (exactly $24,284) | Curdle Games, Mr_Afroduck | |
 | Get Tilted! :) | $14.99 | 45 97% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Timebat Studio | |
 | Handstand Hank | $4.99 | 65 95% | 2.0k | $9.7k (exactly $9,730) | Michael Fischer | |
 | Lose Ctrl | $12.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) | Play From Your Heart Ug (haftungsbeschr… (Play From Your Heart Ug (haftungsbeschränkt)) | |
 | Undesired Catch | $3.99 | 44 86% | 1.3k | $5.3k (exactly $5,267) | Ferran Costa Casanova | |
 | Ropebound | $4.99 | 19 94% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | Bubbling Cat Games | |
 | Gunz & Golf | $4.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) | Virtual Ducky Games | |
 | Getting Over It with Your Body | $9.99 | 4 25% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | BombGame |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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