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Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Choose Your Own Adventure + Dark Fantasy
Of 163 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy 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.. 297 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×999 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 297 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,070) |
| Top 5% | $627k (exactly $627,443) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 163 |
| Released games | 426 |
| Announced | 297 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 87,223 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 84 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 297 games are announced against 102 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choose Your Own Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RhythmStrong odds
- + FMVFair
- + FlightFair
- + SportsFair
- + Word GameFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + 3D FighterLong shot
- + NavalPoor odds
Comparable games
Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M 
Gothic 1 Remake 2026 · $39M 
Sultan's Game 2025 · $19M 
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · $4.9M 
Scarlet Hollow 2021 · EA · $4.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Metaphor: ReFantazio | $69.99 | 25,224 89% | 757k | $53M (exactly $52,962,833) | ATLUS | |
| | Gothic 1 Remake | $49.99 | 26,258 88% | 788k | $39M (exactly $39,379,123) | Alkimia Interactive | |
| | Sultan's Game | $24.99 | 25,061 93% | 752k | $19M (exactly $18,788,232) | Double Cross | |
| | The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante | older | $19.99 | 8,151 89% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,888,155) | Sever, Schisma Games |
| | Scarlet Hollow | · EA older | $29.99 | 4,833 97% | 145k | $4.3M (exactly $4,348,250) | Black Tabby Games |
 | Ib | older | $12.99 | 4,928 98% | 148k | $1.9M (exactly $1,920,442) | kouri |
 | Vagrus - The Riven Realms | older | $29.99 | 1,746 84% | 52k | $1.6M (exactly $1,570,876) | Lost Pilgrims Studio |
 | Roadwarden | older | $10.99 | 4,476 94% | 134k | $1.5M (exactly $1,475,737) | Moral Anxiety Studio |
 | Cabernet | $19.99 | 2,025 94% | 61k | $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) | Party for Introverts | |
 | The Nameless: Slay Dragon | $17.99 | 2,050 91% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,106,385) | The Nameless Epic | |
 | Lucky Tower Ultimate | $14.99 | 2,281 94% | 68k | $1.0M (exactly $1,025,766) | Studio Seufz | |
 | The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian | $24.99 | 1,356 74% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,016,593) | Schisma Games | |
 | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames | |
 | Blades of Fire | $39.99 | 523 74% | 16k | $627k (exactly $627,443) | MercurySteam | |
 | KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE | $34.99 | 494 93% | 15k | $519k (exactly $518,552) | KAMITSUBAKI STUDIO, orange |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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