Games › Adventure › Adventure + Programming
Should I ship a Programming Adventure game?
Adventure + Programming
Of 21 developers who shipped a Programming 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.. 57 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $68k, ×144 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 57 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) |
| Top 5% | $68k (exactly $68,377) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 111 |
| Announced | 57 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure, Programming; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry 2D Platformer, Action, Automation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Retro, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 941 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 57 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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
Hacknet 2015 · $5.1M 
Grey Hack 2017 · EA · $1.1M 
Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M 
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor 2020 · $1.1M 
Hacker Simulator 2021 · $922k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hacknet | older | $9.99 | 16,910 93% | 507k | $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) | Team Fractal Alligator |
| | Grey Hack | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,801 90% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) | Loading Home |
| | Braid, Anniversary Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,761 92% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) | Thekla, Inc. |
| | Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor | older | $19.99 | 1,758 78% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,054,273) | Stray Fawn Studio |
| | Hacker Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,230 74% | 37k | $922k (exactly $922,131) | Save All Studio |
 | Stone Story RPG | older | $29.99 | 893 90% | 27k | $803k (exactly $803,432) | Rex Games, standardcombo |
 | The Magic Circle | older | $19.99 | 1,080 91% | 32k | $648k (exactly $647,676) | Question |
 | Quadrilateral Cowboy | older | $19.99 | 897 92% | 27k | $538k (exactly $537,931) | Blendo Games |
 | Omega Crafter | $24.99 | 529 77% | 16k | $397k (exactly $396,591) | Preferred Networks | |
 | hack_me | older | $5.99 | 1,454 68% | 44k | $261k (exactly $261,284) | Egor Magurin, Eugene Radaev |
 | Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love | $29.99 | 76 92% | 2.3k | $68k (exactly $68,377) | ASa Project | |
 | MainFrames | $12.99 | 166 88% | 5.0k | $65k (exactly $64,690) | Assoupi | |
 | Beyond the Doors | · EA | $8.99 | 75 72% | 2.3k | $20k (exactly $20,228) | Dream Error |
 | Bit ESC | $14.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | Essssam | |
 | The Amateur Deity Society | $4.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) | Robert Carlson | |
 | Yolo Space Hacker 2 - Mission Bahamas | $19.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | BKNLab | |
 | The Office Void | $1.49 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $2.4k (exactly $2,369) | Coldheart Entertainment | |
 | HELLO HACKER | $5.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | h3ll0h4ck3r | |
 | Battle Bits | $4.99 | 5 40% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | NecoPlanet |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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