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Should I ship a Dynamic Narration Arcade game?
Arcade + Dynamic Narration
Only 19 developers shipped a Dynamic Narration Arcade game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, RATSHAKER™, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 28 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $30 (exactly $30) |
|---|---|
| Median | $179 (exactly $179) |
| Top 25% | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 5% | $270k (exactly $270,087) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 48 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 110% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade, Dynamic Narration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Incremental, Multiple Endings, Physics
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $4.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cartoon, Dark Humor
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $4.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 3,150 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + Card BattlerFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
Comparable games
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger 2013 · $9.4M 
RATSHAKER™ 2024 · $270k 
Starr Mazer: DSP 2016 · EA · $68k 
Supercow 2022 · $44k 
Taskmaster VR 2024 · $22k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Call of Juarez: Gunslinger | older | $14.99 | 20,869 94% | 626k | $9.4M (exactly $9,384,789) | Techland |
| | RATSHAKER™ | $2.99 | 3,011 92% | 90k | $270k (exactly $270,087) | Sunscorched Studios | |
| | Starr Mazer: DSP | · EA older | $9.99 | 228 68% | 6.8k | $68k (exactly $68,332) | Imagos Softworks, Subpixel Studios |
| | Supercow | older | $7.99 | 183 97% | 5.5k | $44k (exactly $43,865) | Nevosoft |
| | Taskmaster VR | older | $14.99 | 50 54% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,485) | Scallywag Arcade |
 | 西门立志传 | older | $5.99 | 53 32% | 1.6k | $9.5k (exactly $9,524) | 2群：154681658（国区激活码找管理） |
 | Cozy Twinkie | $2.99 | 89 82% | 2.7k | $8.0k (exactly $7,983) | Noodle A.M | |
 | Middle Evil: The Priest | older | $5.99 | 29 93% | 870 | $5.2k (exactly $5,211) | diedemor studio |
 | Who Dies First ? | $4.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Stupid games | |
 | Exodus: Creepy Time | older | $7.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) | HugePixel |
 | The Cascadier | · EA | $10.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.3k (exactly $1,319) | Enchanted Arcade |
 | 水浒群侠传 | $4.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | 曾经惨遭锁区 | |
 | Domain of Hallucination | · EA | $2.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Livio Cozzio, Marcel Schürch, Carla Wid… (Livio Cozzio, Marcel Schürch, Carla Widmer, Jonas Wiesli, rnaisa) |
 | Junkyard Universe | $6.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $419 (exactly $419) | Sarah Dressel | |
 | United by a Fairy Tale | $6.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $419 (exactly $419) | Capky Games | |
 | LoveLine | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | Bone-US | |
 | NEKRO3 | · EA | $2.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | CHVDR |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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