Games › Choose Your Own Adventure › Choose Your Own Adventure + Alternate History
Should I ship an Alternate-History Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Choose Your Own Adventure + Alternate History
Of 68 developers who shipped an Alternate-History Choose Your Own 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $57k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is up 160% on the market; 105 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $358 (exactly $358) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $57,562) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 185 |
| Announced | 105 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 160% on the market, supply 45% more 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.
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Choose Your Own Adventure; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Choices Matter, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Anime, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,775 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choose Your Own Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RhythmStrong odds
- + FMVFair
- + FlightFair
- + SportsFair
- + Word GameFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + 3D FighterLong shot
- + NavalPoor odds
Comparable games
Not For Broadcast 2022 · $7.7M 
Suzerain 2020 · $6.3M 
The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth 2026 · $1.5M 
Slaves of Rome 2024 · $1.4M 
Rule the Waves 3 2023 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Not For Broadcast | older | $24.99 | 10,337 94% | 310k | $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) | NotGames |
| | Suzerain | older | $19.99 | 10,574 92% | 317k | $6.3M (exactly $6,341,228) | Torpor Games |
| | The Three Kingdoms: Rebirth | $19.99 | 2,564 91% | 77k | $1.5M (exactly $1,537,631) | 玛奇阿朵互娱科技, 山与海工作室 | |
| | Slaves of Rome | older | $24.99 | 1,924 73% | 58k | $1.4M (exactly $1,442,423) | Biggus Diccus Games |
| | Rule the Waves 3 | older | $39.99 | 855 87% | 26k | $1.0M (exactly $1,025,744) | Naval Warfare Simulations |
 | Pathway | older | $15.99 | 1,908 76% | 57k | $915k (exactly $915,268) | Robotality |
 | SEX with HITLER | older | $6.99 | 3,358 81% | 101k | $704k (exactly $704,173) | Adolf Games |
 | Corsairs Legacy - Pirate Action RPG & Sea Battles | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $656k (exactly $656,072) | Mauris, Tech-5 UG |
 | Vampire Therapist | older | $14.99 | 915 93% | 27k | $411k (exactly $411,476) | Little Bat Games |
 | Sex with Stalin | older | $5.99 | 2,217 83% | 67k | $398k (exactly $398,395) | Mova Games |
 | City 20 | · EA | $19.99 | 197 72% | 5.9k | $118k (exactly $118,141) | Untold Games |
 | The World Well: Blood of Caro | $11.99 | 205 85% | 6.2k | $74k (exactly $73,738) | Nimparth | |
 | Crown of Lust [18+] 👑 | $14.99 | 128 77% | 3.8k | $58k (exactly $57,562) | Taboo Tales 💘 | |
 | Time Space Rebuild | $4.99 | 377 76% | 11k | $56k (exactly $56,437) | INNOVATION DREAM | |
 | ASTROBOTANICA | · EA | $19.99 | 76 59% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | Space Goblin Studio |
 | I.T. Never Ends | $12.99 | 64 98% | 1.9k | $25k (exactly $24,941) | Dadbod Games | |
 | Wings of Empire | · EA | $14.99 | 49 87% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | Droid Productions |
 | TELLURICENE | $11.99 | 61 100% | 1.8k | $22k (exactly $21,942) | DEADline Studios | |
 | A Better World | $11.99 | 54 64% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Ludogram, ARTE France |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.