Games › Investigation › Investigation + Board Game
Should I ship an Investigation Board Game?
Investigation + Board Game
Only 19 developers shipped an Investigation 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, The Horror at Highrook, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×582 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $6.6k (exactly $6,584) |
| Top 5% | $276k (exactly $276,462) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 50 |
| Announced | 25 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.62 |
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 down 90% on the market, supply 180% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Board Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.62 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Dialogue Heavy, Text-Based
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.62.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 836 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Depersonalization 2024 · $3.6M 
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
The Horror at Highrook 2025 · $276k 
Clue/Cluedo 2023 · $220k 
Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!™ 2009 · $61k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Depersonalization | older | $19.99 | 6,041 92% | 181k | $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) | MeowNature |
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | The Horror at Highrook | $19.99 | 461 90% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Nullpointer Games | |
| | Clue/Cluedo | older | $14.99 | 489 89% | 15k | $220k (exactly $219,903) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!™ | older | $19.99 | 102 71% | 3.1k | $61k (exactly $61,169) | Mousechief |
 | Rough Justice: '84 | older | $19.99 | 67 64% | 2.0k | $40k (exactly $40,180) | Gamma Minus |
 | Deadly Trick | · EA | $8.99 | 141 95% | 4.2k | $38k (exactly $38,028) | Finalblow Co. |
 | Lateral Thinking Together | · EA | $5.99 | 85 43% | 2.6k | $15k (exactly $15,274) | PushForward |
 | 초동수사 - 증언/증거 추리게임 | $4.99 | 60 80% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | leeroom shin | |
 | PENTALOOP -ペンタループ- | $3.99 | 55 72% | 1.7k | $6.6k (exactly $6,584) | イバラユーギ×ひろゆ～プロジェクト | |
 | Detective 26 | $7.62 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.4k (exactly $3,429) | TestOneDev | |
 | Hexa's Gone | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | DevloCore | |
 | Whoowasit? | $14.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Korion Interactive | |
 | Chalk & Blood | · EA | $8.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | BoiraTech |
 | Find The Flaw | $4.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | XSGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.