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Should I ship an Alien Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Aliens
Of 45 developers who shipped an Alien Interactive Fiction 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.. 63 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×235 the market median. Revenue is up 145% on the market; 63 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $480 (exactly $480) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,679) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) |
| Top 5% | $112k (exactly $111,600) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 112 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.00 |
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 145% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- 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
- Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choose Your Own Adventure, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $6.00 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Comedy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 5,174 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. Nearly all of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
The Invincible 2023 · $9.0M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
The Fermi Paradox 2021 · EA · $545k 
Lightracer Spark 2023 · $378k 
Tales From The Unending Void: Season 1 2022 · $192k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 | |
| | The Fermi Paradox | · EA older | $18.99 | 956 76% | 29k | $545k (exactly $544,633) | Anomaly Games |
| | Lightracer Spark | older | $12.99 | 970 83% | 29k | $378k (exactly $378,009) | Smartmelon Games |
| | Tales From The Unending Void: Season 1 | older | $14.99 | 427 88% | 13k | $192k (exactly $192,022) | Perverteer Games |
 | Earth Must Die | $15.99 | 238 85% | 7.1k | $114k (exactly $114,169) | Size Five Games | |
 | 愚人船 NARRENSCHIFF | · EA | $12.00 | 310 95% | 9.3k | $112k (exactly $111,600) | Anonymous, Anonymous |
 | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
 | Dead End Aegis | older | $29.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $52k (exactly $52,183) | metalogiq |
 | PRODUCER 2021 | older | $9.99 | 164 100% | 4.9k | $49k (exactly $49,151) | Stuffed Wombat, ThorHighHeels |
 | Space Control | $17.99 | 52 96% | 1.6k | $28k (exactly $28,064) | MoonMonster Studios | |
 | 翎之歌 | $6.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸 | |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene | |
 | Love at The Milky Way Diner | · EA | $13.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $10k (exactly $10,492) | Lucky Kim, Emanuelle Heikens |
 | Donutal | $9.99 | 30 93% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | Arc System Works | |
 | Only Good Babysitters Go To Heaven | $5.99 | 46 91% | 1.4k | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) | MyGrandfather Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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