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Should I ship an Alien Point & Click game?
Point & Click + Aliens
Of 48 developers who shipped an Alien Point & Click 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.. 60 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 $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×264 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 60 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $480 (exactly $480) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $125k (exactly $125,431) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 48 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 60 |
| 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 30% on the market, supply 30% 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.
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high 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
- Point & Click; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Incremental
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 2,663 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Point & Click with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Life SimFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + MiningFair
- + CookingFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Word GameFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | STASIS: BONE TOTEM | older | $19.99 | 2,025 93% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) | THE BROTHERHOOD |
| | Insaniquarium Deluxe | older | $4.99 | 6,398 96% | 192k | $958k (exactly $957,781) | PopCap Games, Inc. |
| | In Other Waters | older | $14.99 | 2,093 88% | 63k | $941k (exactly $941,222) | Jump Over The Age |
| | HIVESWAP: ACT 1 | older | $7.99 | 3,113 94% | 93k | $746k (exactly $746,186) | What Pumpkin Games, Inc. |
| | Samorost 2 | older | $4.99 | 2,462 87% | 74k | $369k (exactly $368,561) | Amanita Design |
| | Machinika: Museum | older | $7.99 | 1,184 91% | 36k | $284k (exactly $283,805) | Littlefield Studio |
| | Polda 7 | older | $17.99 | 496 92% | 15k | $268k (exactly $267,691) | Zima software |
| | Unusual Findings | older | $19.99 | 426 87% | 13k | $255k (exactly $255,472) | Epic Llama Games |
| | Elroy and the Aliens | $17.99 | 463 97% | 14k | $250k (exactly $249,881) | Motiviti | |
| | The Dig® | older | $5.99 | 1,161 92% | 35k | $209k (exactly $208,632) | LucasArts |
| | Machinika: Atlas | $11.99 | 574 76% | 17k | $206k (exactly $206,468) | Littlefield Studio | |
| | Void Miner – Incremental Asteroids Roguelite | $5.99 | 698 83% | 21k | $125k (exactly $125,431) | RyanJakob | |
| | Earth Must Die | $15.99 | 238 85% | 7.1k | $114k (exactly $114,169) | Size Five Games | |
| | Mosaic of the Strange | $12.99 | 226 92% | 6.8k | $88k (exactly $88,072) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
| | We Need More Humans! | $6.99 | 142 72% | 4.3k | $30k (exactly $29,777) | Seafront Games | |
| | These Darker Tides | $7.99 | 76 90% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $18,217) | Pixel Drip Games | |
| | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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