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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Base Building game?
Base Building + Interactive Fiction
Only 9 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction Base Building 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, Native Hunter, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×5.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $31k, ×50 the market median. Revenue is up 300% on the market; 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $959 (exactly $959) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.5k (exactly $3,466) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,350) |
| Top 5% | $31k (exactly $31,303) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 15 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 300% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 78% positive over 366 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
Hobo: Tough Life 2021 · $7.8M 
Yog-Sothoth’s Yard 2023 · $3.4M 
Wild West Legacy 2024 · $1.4M 
Serum: Toxic Survival 2024 · EA · $190k 
Horny Warp: Hentai Fantasy 2023 · $137k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hobo: Tough Life | older | $29.99 | 8,679 84% | 260k | $7.8M (exactly $7,808,496) | Perun Creative |
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
| | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
| | Serum: Toxic Survival | · EA older | $24.99 | 253 45% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Game Island |
| | Horny Warp: Hentai Fantasy | older | $6.99 | 654 92% | 20k | $137k (exactly $137,144) | LuminatiGames |
 | The King's Dilemma: Chronicles | older | $14.99 | 102 70% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Big Trouble |
 | Nocked! True Tales of Robin Hood | older | $19.99 | 76 96% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | Andrew G. Schneider |
 | Native Hunter | $17.99 | 58 72% | 1.7k | $31k (exactly $31,303) | A.P.S | |
 | Fleshcult | older | $4.99 | 190 79% | 5.7k | $28k (exactly $28,443) | Oneirolith |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Tales from The Dancing Moon | $17.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $18k (exactly $18,350) | DjMonkey | |
 | Almost Castaways | $12.90 | 20 100% | 600 | $7.7k (exactly $7,740) | Pent Panda | |
 | 双雄风流传（Romantic Emperor） | $2.18 | 53 86% | 1.6k | $3.5k (exactly $3,466) | Turtle game | |
 | Season 31 | $4.99 | 21 100% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | Main Sequence Star, Cal Chevreul, Lorra… (Main Sequence Star, Cal Chevreul, Lorrain Castel) | |
 | Teen Zombie In Your Cabin | $5.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.9k (exactly $2,875) | Pent Panda | |
 | Armed Animals RPG | $15.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $959 (exactly $959) | Strejda Jenda Productions | |
 | Gatekeeper Simulator: Inner Circle | $4.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | Revolt Entertainment | |
 | Luna Meridian | · EA | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Field Noise Co. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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