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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Arcade game?
Arcade + Interactive Fiction
Of 35 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Arcade 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $68k, ×144 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 41 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $180 (exactly $180) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 5% | $68k (exactly $68,354) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 127 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 150% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Linear, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 9,875 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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
Easy Delivery Co. 2025 · $3.7M 
Refind Self: The Personality Test Game 2023 · $861k 
ITORAH 2022 · $429k 
Horny Warp: Hentai Fantasy 2023 · $137k 
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers 2022 · $98k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Easy Delivery Co. | $12.99 | 9,538 95% | 286k | $3.7M (exactly $3,716,959) | Sam C | |
| | Refind Self: The Personality Test Game | older | $7.99 | 3,592 87% | 108k | $861k (exactly $861,002) | Lizardry |
| | ITORAH | older | $19.99 | 715 72% | 21k | $429k (exactly $428,785) | Grimbart Tales |
| | Horny Warp: Hentai Fantasy | older | $6.99 | 654 92% | 20k | $137k (exactly $137,144) | LuminatiGames |
| | Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers | older | $19.99 | 164 89% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $98,351) | Fiction Factory Games |
 | Button City | older | $19.99 | 138 94% | 4.1k | $83k (exactly $82,759) | Subliminal |
 | Mystic Academy: Escape Room | older | $10.99 | 224 75% | 6.7k | $74k (exactly $73,853) | mc2games |
 | Big Tiddy Goth Baddie🖤⛓️ | $14.99 | 152 76% | 4.6k | $68k (exactly $68,354) | BanzaiProject | |
 | Spooky Station | older | $4.99 | 345 88% | 10k | $52k (exactly $51,646) | Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO… (Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO Game Studio, Spookids Team, Calangames, Expresso Studios, Pastel Studios, Heavy Sheep, LASTONE, Asteristic Game Studio) |
 | The Will of Arthur Flabbington | older | $11.99 | 120 95% | 3.6k | $43k (exactly $43,164) | Gugames |
 | XXX Pussy House | $6.99 | 66 71% | 2.0k | $14k (exactly $13,840) | Dreamers Workshop | |
 | Rain Debt | $4.99 | 39 87% | 1.2k | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) | TheTalentlessWriter | |
 | Haunted ROM: The Lost Cartridge | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Crit42 Studio | |
 | PINEAPPLE: A Bittersweet Revenge | $4.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | PATRONES & ESCONDITES | |
 | Kitty Rush | $7.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | DFS | |
 | MechaCap Arena | $7.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Paraflux Games | |
 | Intelektronica | · EA | $9.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) | RingoGames |
 | Carpe Dino: Seize the Date | $4.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $1.6k (exactly $1,647) | Black Squirrels Studio Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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