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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Board Game?
Board Game + Interactive Fiction
Only 9 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction Board 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, Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $660, ×5.5 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 11300190% on the market; 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $657 (exactly $657) |
| Top 25% | $63k (exactly $62,968) |
| Top 5% | $666k (exactly $665,778) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Board Game, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $6.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 3,178 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 12 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Board Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + SpaceFair
- + Alternate HistoryFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Party GameFair
- + DragonsFair
Comparable games
Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns 2026 · $666k 
Foretales 2022 · $467k 
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 2016 · $211k 
7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat 2013 · $181k 
Erannorth Renaissance 2025 · $112k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns | $29.99 | 740 80% | 22k | $666k (exactly $665,778) | ILLUMINATION | |
| | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
| | The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | older | $19.99 | 352 76% | 11k | $211k (exactly $211,094) | Tin Man Games |
| | 7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat | older | $19.99 | 301 61% | 9.0k | $181k (exactly $180,510) | Mousechief |
| | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | 你已经猜到结局了吗 | older | $7.99 | 388 92% | 12k | $93k (exactly $93,004) | 橘音 |
 | Table of Tales: The Crooked Crown | older | $19.99 | 110 77% | 3.3k | $66k (exactly $65,967) | Tin Man Games, Zero One Studio |
 | Moves Of The Diamond Hand | · EA | $19.99 | 105 100% | 3.2k | $63k (exactly $62,968) | Cosmo D Studios |
 | Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!™ | older | $19.99 | 102 71% | 3.1k | $61k (exactly $61,169) | Mousechief |
 | Pendragon: Narrative Tactics | older | $16.99 | 115 67% | 3.5k | $59k (exactly $58,615) | inkle Ltd |
 | MEMOLOGY: War of Memes | $0.99 | 52 76% | 1.6k | $1.5k (exactly $1,544) | Piece Of Voxel, Gamesforfarm, hannibaln… (Piece Of Voxel, Gamesforfarm, hannibalnotdead) | |
 | Ming Dynasty: Cards & Court | $1.99 | 11 36% | 330 | $657 (exactly $657) | YCX GameStudio | |
 | Checkmate in the Wild West - Chess Adventure | $3.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $598 (exactly $598) | Grouper Games LLC | |
 | RP2D Virtual Tabletop | · EA | $2.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | Lilibot Studio |
 | Puzzle Player | $6.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | RuneWright Interactive | |
 | Luddite | $9.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Joseph Adams, Madeleine Adams |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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