Games › Visual Novel › Visual Novel + Cats
Should I ship a Cat Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Cats
Of 52 developers who shipped a Cat Visual Novel 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.. 102 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×16 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×1361 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 102 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,948) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,738) |
| Top 5% | $162k (exactly $161,935) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 213 |
| Announced | 102 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 down 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Cats
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 4,662 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 6 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 102 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
Night in the Woods 2017 · $11M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 1 2014 · $7.0M 
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023 · $5.8M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 3 2017 · $3.3M 
NEKOPARA Vol. 2 2016 · $3.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Night in the Woods | older | $19.99 | 17,760 94% | 533k | $11M (exactly $10,650,672) | Infinite Fall |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 1 | older | $9.99 | 23,405 95% | 702k | $7.0M (exactly $7,014,478) | NEKO WORKs |
| | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective | older | $29.99 | 6,429 97% | 193k | $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 3 | older | $9.99 | 11,153 96% | 335k | $3.3M (exactly $3,342,554) | NEKO WORKs |
| | NEKOPARA Vol. 2 | older | $9.99 | 11,055 97% | 332k | $3.3M (exactly $3,313,184) | NEKO WORKs |
 | NEKOPARA Vol. 0 | older | $2.99 | 14,705 94% | 441k | $1.3M (exactly $1,319,038) | NEKO WORKs |
 | Chicken Police - Paint it RED! | older | $19.99 | 1,624 94% | 49k | $974k (exactly $973,913) | The Wild Gentlemen |
 | Cat's Kiss | older | $14.99 | 1,528 89% | 46k | $687k (exactly $687,142) | Narrator, STORIA |
 | Kemono Teatime | $12.99 | 1,617 95% | 49k | $630k (exactly $630,145) | Studio Lalala, Kotoneiro, WHO YOU | |
 | 9-nine-:Episode 3 | older | $19.99 | 1,030 91% | 31k | $618k (exactly $617,691) | PALETTE |
 | CraftCraft: Fantasy Merchant Simulator | $15.99 | 531 81% | 16k | $255k (exactly $254,721) | Placeholder Gameworks, Pineapple Works | |
 | Garfield Kart 2 - All You Can Drift | $24.99 | 216 45% | 6.5k | $162k (exactly $161,935) | Eden Games | |
 | 夏目友人帳 ～葉月の記～ | $49.99 | 77 80% | 2.3k | $115k (exactly $115,477) | Toydium | |
 | Sushi Ben | $11.99 | 261 82% | 7.8k | $94k (exactly $93,882) | Big Brane Studios, Inc. | |
 | MAHOUTEQ! | $1.99 | 1,316 99% | 39k | $79k (exactly $78,565) | motijan | |
 | PROJEKT GODHAND | $15.80 | 158 96% | 4.7k | $75k (exactly $74,892) | Anarch Entertainment | |
 | Moses & Plato - Last Train to Clawville | $19.99 | 104 88% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | The Wild Gentlemen | |
 | Slay the Alice | $3.99 | 286 97% | 8.6k | $34k (exactly $34,234) | SUZUMIHARA, BARON DU JUVÉNILE | |
 | Feline Forensics and the Meowseum Mystery | $9.99 | 96 92% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $28,771) | Nobody Crown |
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.