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Should I ship an Assassin Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Assassins
Of 35 developers who shipped an Assassin Puzzle 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.. 48 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×0.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240. 48 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper, while revenue is up 95% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $48k (exactly $48,252) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 107 |
| Announced | 48 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 95% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 7,975 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HITMAN World of Assassination | older | $29.99 | 58,655 87% | 1.8M | $53M (exactly $52,771,904) | IO Interactive A/S |
| | Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun | older | $39.99 | 30,845 96% | 925k | $37M (exactly $37,004,746) | Mimimi Games |
| | Assassin’s Creed® Rogue | older | $19.99 | 21,310 86% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,779,607) | Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev |
| | The Killing Antidote | · EA | $29.99 | 7,512 88% | 225k | $6.8M (exactly $6,758,546) | MetalStar Studio |
| | Hitman: Blood Money | older | $9.99 | 13,642 93% | 409k | $4.1M (exactly $4,088,507) | Io-Interactive A/S |
| | Mark of the Ninja: Remastered | older | $19.99 | 6,584 95% | 198k | $3.9M (exactly $3,948,425) | Klei Entertainment |
| | Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice | older | $19.99 | 3,965 93% | 119k | $2.4M (exactly $2,377,810) | Mimimi Games |
| | Children of the Sun | older | $14.99 | 2,005 92% | 60k | $902k (exactly $901,648) | René Rother |
| | Hitman: Contracts | older | $8.99 | 3,094 86% | 93k | $834k (exactly $834,452) | Io-Interactive A/S |
| | Death Coming/死神来了 | older | $6.99 | 3,043 89% | 91k | $638k (exactly $638,117) | NEXT Studios |
| | The Lacerator | $9.99 | 161 99% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $48,252) | Games From The Abyss | |
| | DETECTIVE - Rainy night | $10.99 | 80 70% | 2.4k | $26k (exactly $26,376) | k148 Game Studio | |
| | Dark Atlas: Infernum | $14.99 | 39 82% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Night Council Studio | |
| | 烧尾宴 | $8.99 | 52 75% | 1.6k | $14k (exactly $14,024) | 有点正经 | |
| | Toastercide | $9.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | The Chairman | |
| | Midnight Saturn | $9.99 | 28 82% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Cosmic Void | |
| | CrimeBot 2: Detective Mystery Games | $7.99 | 24 50% | 720 | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) | RoboBot Studio | |
| | Project Chameleon | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Anonymous King | |
| | Outbreak Zombie Plague | $3.99 | 32 34% | 960 | $3.8k (exactly $3,830) | Aurora Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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