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Should I ship an Alternate-History Point & Click game?
Point & Click + Alternate History
Of 58 developers who shipped an Alternate-History 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.. 100 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.9k, ×6.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×579 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 100 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,929) |
| Top 5% | $364k (exactly $363,625) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 158 |
| Announced | 100 |
| 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 down 20% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- 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
- Point & Click; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 6,554 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit | older | $19.99 | 10,164 95% | 305k | $6.1M (exactly $6,095,351) | Mega Cat Studios |
| | Hypnospace Outlaw | older | $19.99 | 4,824 96% | 145k | $2.9M (exactly $2,892,953) | Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs… (Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs Media) |
| | The Silent Age | older | $9.99 | 5,966 93% | 179k | $1.8M (exactly $1,788,010) | House On Fire |
| | Card Shark | older | $19.99 | 2,965 90% | 89k | $1.8M (exactly $1,778,110) | Nerial |
| | Day of the Tentacle Remastered | older | $14.99 | 3,536 97% | 106k | $1.6M (exactly $1,590,139) | Double Fine Productions, Shiny Shoe |
| | Not Tonight | older | $19.99 | 2,220 84% | 67k | $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) | PanicBarn |
| | Home Safety Hotline | older | $14.99 | 2,763 90% | 83k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,521) | Night Signal Entertainment |
| | xiuzhen idle | $5.99 | 2,313 79% | 69k | $416k (exactly $415,646) | 游戏养家工作室 | |
| | Aether & Iron | $24.99 | 521 84% | 16k | $391k (exactly $390,594) | Seismic Squirrel, Chaos Theory Games | |
| | FACEMINER | $7.99 | 1,517 90% | 46k | $364k (exactly $363,625) | Wristwork | |
| | DAEMON MASQUERADE | $14.99 | 514 95% | 15k | $231k (exactly $231,146) | Callum Page | |
| | Rosewater | $19.99 | 348 91% | 10k | $209k (exactly $208,696) | Grundislav Games | |
| | MMO98 | $6.99 | 511 69% | 15k | $107k (exactly $107,157) | BiteMe Games | |
| | Mosaic of the Strange | $12.99 | 226 92% | 6.8k | $88k (exactly $88,072) | Mark Ffrench | |
| | Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator | $12.99 | 208 59% | 6.2k | $81k (exactly $81,058) | Zeitglas | |
| | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
| | The World Well: Blood of Caro | $11.99 | 205 85% | 6.2k | $74k (exactly $73,738) | Nimparth |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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