Games › Interactive Fiction › Interactive Fiction + Capitalism
Should I ship a Capitalist Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Capitalism
Of 38 developers who shipped a Capitalist Interactive Fiction 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.. 74 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×216 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 74 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $7,012) |
| Top 5% | $103k (exactly $102,549) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 124 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 220% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 27%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Capitalism
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Multiple Endings, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 1,179 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
New Tales from the Borderlands 2022 · $2.1M 
BLACKWOOD 2026 · $424k 
Duskpunk 2025 · $103k 
To Hell With The Ugly 2023 · $80k 
Regular Factory: Escape Room 2022 · $63k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | New Tales from the Borderlands | older | $39.99 | 1,737 29% | 52k | $2.1M (exactly $2,083,879) | Gearbox Software |
| | BLACKWOOD | $24.99 | 565 46% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | AttritoM7 Productions | |
| | Duskpunk | $19.99 | 171 91% | 5.1k | $103k (exactly $102,549) | Clockwork Bird, James Patton | |
| | To Hell With The Ugly | older | $19.99 | 133 87% | 4.0k | $80k (exactly $79,760) | La Poule Noire, ARTE France |
| | Regular Factory: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 210 91% | 6.3k | $63k (exactly $62,937) | mc2games |
 | Psychroma | older | $9.99 | 193 88% | 5.8k | $58k (exactly $57,842) | Rocket Adrift |
 | Wanderlust: Travel Stories | older | $14.99 | 119 83% | 3.6k | $54k (exactly $53,514) | Different Tales |
 | CorpoNation: The Sorting Process | older | $12.99 | 117 71% | 3.5k | $46k (exactly $45,595) | Canteen |
 | 子夜之章:历史的终局～MidNights of Desperado～ | older | $4.99 | 267 98% | 8.0k | $40k (exactly $39,970) | 银阼 |
 | Marshmallow All the Way Home | $29.99 | 44 95% | 1.3k | $40k (exactly $39,587) | Marmalade | |
 | I.T. Never Ends | $12.99 | 64 98% | 1.9k | $25k (exactly $24,941) | Dadbod Games | |
 | UltraGirl Alters | $19.99 | 37 64% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $22,189) | FutureInvention | |
 | how to kill a fly [ H2KAF ] | $9.99 | 71 97% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $21,279) | Radtel Collective | |
 | Pocket Boss | $4.99 | 134 89% | 4.0k | $20k (exactly $20,060) | Langfilm, Mario von Rickenbach | |
 | The State of Nowhere | $19.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $16k (exactly $15,592) | Anomaly Works | |
 | Sunset Game Shop Shayou | $9.99 | 41 90% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | Lobstudio | |
 | Baskin All-In: The Family | · EA | $8.99 | 26 65% | 780 | $7.0k (exactly $7,012) | TheSugarRay |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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