Do I ship it?

GamesBullet HellBullet Hell + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Bullet Hell?

Bullet Hell + Interactive Fiction

Only 9 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction Bullet Hell 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, Stranger Maidens Please Protect Me!, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $960 against a market of $480. 20 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 1650% on the market, 20 announced, ×5.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Bullet Hell + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 9
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $450 → $598 → $959 → $5.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Bullet Hell + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 9
Bottom 30% $89 (exactly $89)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,970)
Top 5% $51k (exactly $50,774)
Developers, 2 yr 9
Released games 39
Announced 20
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 1650% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Bullet Hell
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Bullet Hell, Interactive Fiction
Price point
$3.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

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 $10.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 3,644 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $89, median $960, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $50k.

3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Bullet Hell with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SuperheroStrong odds11 devs · median $3.4k · 7 announced
  2. + FaithFair26 devs · median $17k · 29 announced
  3. + VampiresFair43 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  4. + Creature CollectorFair24 devs · median $3.4k · 33 announced
  5. + Strategy RPGFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  6. + PiratesFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 20 announced
  7. + CatsFair44 devs · median $1.7k · 59 announced
  8. + HackingFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 17 announced
  9. + Time ManagementFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair24 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  11. + DemonsFair101 devs · median $1.2k · 125 announced
  12. + Naval CombatFair14 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced

All 185 pairs on the Bullet Hell page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Noctuary older $29.99 2,371 94% 71k $2.1M (exactly $2,133,189) Gratesca
Stranger Maidens Please Protect Me! $10.99 154 92% 4.6k $51k (exactly $50,774) Volcanic Good Boy
romantic player older $2.99 424 73% 13k $38k (exactly $38,033) Ronin SoftWork
Candice DeBébé's Incredibly Trick Lifestyle older $4.99 134 91% 4.0k $20k (exactly $20,060) Havishamone Games
Resurrection Island: Love and Victory older $5.99 48 95% 1.4k $8.6k (exactly $8,626) さんかっけい
Scratch Girl older $0.99 218 73% 6.5k $6.5k (exactly $6,475) DigitalDream
Rain Debt $4.99 39 87% 1.2k $5.8k (exactly $5,838) TheTalentlessWriter
Endless Furry Killer 2020 older $0.99 145 88% 4.4k $4.3k (exactly $4,306) Tegridy Made Games
黄色猫片 $0.99 100 91% 3.0k $3.0k (exactly $2,970) Basement Games, 86岁按时吃饭
PIXEL DASH: Toast of Destiny $7.99 11 81% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Clover Lab.,inc.
Armed Animals RPG $15.99 2 100% 60 $959 (exactly $959) Strejda Jenda Productions
The Little Moon $3.99 5 100% 150 $598 (exactly $598) TTeokLeaf, Wojtek
GPU Inferno $0.99 3 100% 90 $89 (exactly $89) Moriba
Annie's School Trip $1.99 1 100% 30 $60 (exactly $60) PoteComPao
ふしぎな雨 $2.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 沈黙静寂

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.