Games › Logic › Logic + Alternate History
Should I ship an Alternate-History Logic game?
Logic + Alternate History
Of 24 developers who shipped an Alternate-History Logic 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×160 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 51 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,348) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $13,193) |
| Top 5% | $101k (exactly $100,543) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 96 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $11.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 50% 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.
- Logic
- effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids
- 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
- Logic; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Hidden Object
- Price point
- $11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 14,004 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Logic with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LovecraftianFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + NoirFair
- + HackingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DragonsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Bullet TimeFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + TransportationFair
- + Automobile SimFair
- + CookingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | XCOM® 2 | older | $19.99 | 79,998 84% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,974,801) | Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac),… (Firaxis Games, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator | $19.99 | 13,278 97% | 398k | $8.0M (exactly $7,962,817) | Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos | |
| | Mars Horizon | older | $19.99 | 2,757 84% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,653,373) | Auroch Digital |
| | Europa Universalis III Complete | older | $14.99 | 1,372 85% | 41k | $617k (exactly $616,988) | Paradox Development Studio |
| | The Last FARMER | $12.99 | 258 56% | 7.7k | $101k (exactly $100,543) | Geekon | |
| | Between Time: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 326 80% | 9.8k | $98k (exactly $97,702) | mc2games |
| | macdows 95 | older | $4.99 | 520 92% | 16k | $78k (exactly $77,844) | Yunus Ayyildiz |
| | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
| | 봄이 오면 꽃이 피고 | · EA older | $34.99 | 66 93% | 2.0k | $69k (exactly $69,280) | TeamOGM |
| | Rauniot | older | $14.99 | 130 86% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,461) | Act Normal Games |
| | Take Notes | $6.99 | 93 96% | 2.8k | $20k (exactly $19,502) | Stoneware Game Studio | |
| | 烧尾宴 | $8.99 | 52 75% | 1.6k | $14k (exactly $14,024) | 有点正经 | |
| | Venice After Dark | $19.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | Sebastian Grünwald, Weltenwandler Desig… (Sebastian Grünwald, Weltenwandler Designagentur GmbH) | |
| | Signal Maze | $14.99 | 24 95% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | theArkitect | |
| | QuantumPulse 2A | $11.99 | 30 93% | 900 | $11k (exactly $10,791) | Dashing Strike | |
| | Nova Patria | $11.99 | 22 100% | 660 | $7.9k (exactly $7,913) | Sower Interactive | |
| | Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages. | $6.99 | 34 70% | 1.0k | $7.1k (exactly $7,130) | Next Path Media, FSTR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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