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Should I ship an Alien Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Aliens
Of 72 developers who shipped an Alien Choices Matter 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.. 155 more are announced, ×3.2 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 $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2279 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 155 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $629 (exactly $629) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 177 |
| Announced | 155 |
| 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 down 20% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Aliens
- 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
- Choices Matter; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choose Your Own Adventure, Adventure, Strategy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 13,834 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 155 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 2021 · $64M 
The Invincible 2023 · $9.0M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Tower Dominion 2025 · $2.7M 
Directive 8020 2026 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy | older | $59.99 | 35,397 93% | 1.1M | $64M (exactly $63,703,981) | Eidos-Montréal |
| | The Invincible | older | $29.99 | 10,055 87% | 302k | $9.0M (exactly $9,046,484) | Starward Industries |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Tower Dominion | $17.49 | 5,117 85% | 154k | $2.7M (exactly $2,684,890) | Parallel 45 Games | |
| | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
 | Projekt: Passion - Season 1 | older | $11.99 | 3,501 92% | 105k | $1.3M (exactly $1,259,310) | Classy Lemon |
 | Star Control®: Origins | older | $19.99 | 2,067 74% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,239,580) | Stardock Entertainment |
 | The Thing: Remastered | $29.99 | 1,203 89% | 36k | $1.1M (exactly $1,082,339) | Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks | |
 | Shortest Trip to Earth | older | $25.99 | 1,257 76% | 38k | $980k (exactly $980,083) | Interactive Fate |
 | Nemesis: Lockdown | older | $24.99 | 732 68% | 22k | $549k (exactly $548,780) | InterStudio |
 | Projekt: Passion - Season 2 | $11.99 | 1,005 93% | 30k | $361k (exactly $361,498) | Classy Lemon | |
 | Galaxy Princess Zorana | $24.99 | 154 88% | 4.6k | $115k (exactly $115,454) | Hanako Games | |
 | Dead in Antares | $19.99 | 189 77% | 5.7k | $113k (exactly $113,343) | Ishtar Games | |
 | Shinehill | $10.99 | 265 95% | 8.0k | $87k (exactly $87,370) | Peach Bite | |
 | 9th Sentinel Sisters | $7.99 | 273 69% | 8.2k | $65k (exactly $65,438) | Live Wire | |
 | Stellar Dream - Part 1 | $14.99 | 129 87% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Winterlook Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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