Games › Choices Matter › Choices Matter + Trains
Should I ship a Train Choices Matter game?
Choices Matter + Trains
Only 16 developers shipped a Train Choices Matter 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, Monster Train 2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.3k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $6.4M, ×10323 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 33 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) |
| Top 25% | $123k (exactly $123,308) |
| Top 5% | $6.5M (exactly $6,482,656) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 37 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 100% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, 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
- Trains
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 16,014 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different setting or mood, 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
Monster Train 2020 · $15M 
Choo-Choo Charles 2022 · $9.8M 
Monster Train 2 2025 · $6.5M 
Last Train Home 2023 · $5.4M 
Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition 2019 · $2.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Monster Train | older | $24.99 | 19,950 95% | 599k | $15M (exactly $14,956,515) | Shiny Shoe |
| | Choo-Choo Charles | older | $19.99 | 16,292 91% | 489k | $9.8M (exactly $9,770,312) | Two Star Games |
| | Monster Train 2 | $24.99 | 8,647 95% | 259k | $6.5M (exactly $6,482,656) | Shiny Shoe | |
| | Last Train Home | older | $39.99 | 4,511 86% | 135k | $5.4M (exactly $5,411,847) | Ashborne Games |
| | Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition | older | $24.99 | 2,661 84% | 80k | $2.0M (exactly $1,994,952) | Failbetter Games |
 | Beholder: Conductor | $13.99 | 4,532 91% | 136k | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) | Alawar | |
 | Zoochosis | $24.99 | 2,200 60% | 66k | $1.6M (exactly $1,649,340) | Clapperheads | |
 | Subway Midnight | older | $9.99 | 1,155 79% | 35k | $346k (exactly $346,154) | Bubby Darkstar |
 | Maitetsu | older | $14.99 | 357 94% | 11k | $161k (exactly $160,543) | Lose |
 | Frostrain 2 | $10.99 | 374 89% | 11k | $123k (exactly $123,308) | nemonan | |
 | Moses & Plato - Last Train to Clawville | $19.99 | 104 88% | 3.1k | $62k (exactly $62,369) | The Wild Gentlemen | |
 | Empire Builder | $19.99 | 42 95% | 1.3k | $25k (exactly $25,187) | Zombie Possum Games Inc | |
 | Siberian Way | $7.99 | 45 73% | 1.4k | $11k (exactly $10,786) | ROOT GAMES | |
 | Anomalous Railroad Crossing | $5.99 | 46 86% | 1.4k | $8.3k (exactly $8,266) | Liner Studio | |
 | Moor Rail | $9.99 | 19 78% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | PLAY Mephistowaltz | |
 | Zooparasite | $9.99 | 5 20% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Mascot Bro Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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