Games › Combat › Combat + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Combat Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Combat + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 77 developers who shipped a Combat Choose Your Own Adventure game 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.. 196 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $4.3M, ×6957 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 196 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $297 (exactly $297) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,190) |
| Top 5% | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 77 |
| Released games | 226 |
| Announced | 196 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 45% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Combat
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Combat, Choose Your Own Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 163,196 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 196 games are announced against 55 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds
- + 4XFair
- + TypingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + SnowFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Match 3Long shot
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + Political SimPoor odds
- + Extraction ShooterPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
Comparable games
Crimson Desert Enhanced 2026 · $242M 
Gothic 1 Remake 2026 · $39M 
The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Pixel Piracy 2014 · $2.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crimson Desert Enhanced | $69.99 | 115,056 83% | 3.5M | $242M (exactly $241,583,083) | Pearl Abyss | |
| | Gothic 1 Remake | $49.99 | 26,258 88% | 788k | $39M (exactly $39,379,123) | Alkimia Interactive | |
| | The Bazaar | $19.99 | 14,931 70% | 448k | $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) | Tempo | |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Pixel Piracy | older | $14.99 | 5,713 65% | 171k | $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) | Vitali Kirpu |
 | 轮回修仙路 | older | $16.99 | 2,945 82% | 88k | $1.5M (exactly $1,501,066) | 烟水寒工作室 |
 | Skoof Simulator | older | $29.99 | 935 83% | 28k | $841k (exactly $841,220) | PropilGames |
 | Blades of Fire | $39.99 | 523 74% | 16k | $627k (exactly $627,443) | MercurySteam | |
 | Quadrober Simulator | $29.99 | 684 79% | 21k | $615k (exactly $615,395) | PropilGames | |
 | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
 | Fallen Priestess: My Sister's Demonic Bloodline | $18.99 | 622 72% | 19k | $354k (exactly $354,353) | BBQ大好き | |
 | Reach | $29.99 | 244 66% | 7.3k | $220k (exactly $219,527) | nDreams Elevation | |
 | ZENONIA 1 | $9.99 | 430 80% | 13k | $129k (exactly $128,871) | Com2us Holdings, CFK Co., Ltd. | |
 | Marisa of Liartop Mountain | $14.99 | 286 84% | 8.6k | $129k (exactly $128,614) | Alliance Arts, UnknownX |
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.