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Should I ship a Choices Matter Shop Keeper?
Choices Matter + Shop Keeper
Of 59 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Shop Keeper 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.. 178 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $750; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×1031 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 178 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $748 (exactly $748) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $25,720) |
| Top 5% | $490k (exactly $489,942) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 178 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 455% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Shop Keeper
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, Shop Keeper; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Immersive Sim
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Story Rich, 3D
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 13,550 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $750. 6 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 178 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ReStory: Chill Electronics Repairs | $19.99 | 9,209 95% | 276k | $5.5M (exactly $5,522,637) | Mandragora | |
| | Dealer's Life 2 | older | $14.99 | 3,994 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,796,102) | Abyte Entertainment |
| | No Umbrellas Allowed | older | $19.99 | 1,394 80% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Hoochoo Game Studios |
| | Tavern Talk - A Cozy Visual Novel | older | $17.99 | 1,456 87% | 44k | $786k (exactly $785,803) | Gentle Troll Entertainment |
| | inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories | $19.99 | 996 85% | 30k | $597k (exactly $597,301) | Nagai Industries | |
| | Saloon Simulator | · EA | $18.99 | 860 89% | 26k | $490k (exactly $489,942) | Glivi Games S.A. |
| | Rebirth Pub | $17.99 | 700 92% | 21k | $378k (exactly $377,790) | Seikou Soft. | |
| | Potion Tycoon | $19.99 | 629 71% | 19k | $377k (exactly $377,211) | Snowhound Games | |
| | Dealer's Life | older | $9.99 | 1,257 93% | 38k | $377k (exactly $376,723) | Abyte Entertainment |
| | Final Profit: A Shop RPG | older | $14.99 | 520 95% | 16k | $234k (exactly $233,844) | Brent Arnold |
| | King of Retail 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 275 79% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Freaking Games |
| | Corner Shop: NightShift | $19.99 | 206 84% | 6.2k | $124k (exactly $123,538) | Live Motion Games | |
| | Dealer's Life Legend | $14.99 | 271 81% | 8.1k | $122k (exactly $121,869) | Abyte Entertainment | |
| | LOVE Hotel Simulator 🏩 | $14.99 | 241 70% | 7.2k | $108k (exactly $108,378) | Pocket Rocket Studio 🚀 | |
| | High Times | $19.99 | 163 90% | 4.9k | $98k (exactly $97,751) | Yangyang Mobile |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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