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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 20 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Grand Strategy 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.. 24 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×0.9 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $10k, ×7.2 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 24 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,336) |
| Top 25% | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 5% | $11k (exactly $10,796) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 71 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 25% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy, Choose Your Own Adventure; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 148 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. All of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 2023 · $4.3M 
Plebby Quest: The Crusades 2020 · $1.6M 
Crisis in the Kremlin 2017 · $205k 
China: Mao's legacy 2019 · $205k 
Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out 2023 · $124k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $4.3M (exactly $4,321,438) | Brilliant Game Studios |
| | Plebby Quest: The Crusades | older | $19.99 | 2,625 86% | 79k | $1.6M (exactly $1,574,212) | PiedPipers Team |
| | Crisis in the Kremlin | older | $4.99 | 1,372 83% | 41k | $205k (exactly $205,388) | Nostalgames |
| | China: Mao's legacy | older | $6.99 | 978 90% | 29k | $205k (exactly $205,087) | Nostalgames |
| | Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out | older | $24.99 | 165 96% | 5.0k | $124k (exactly $123,700) | A Sharp |
 | Ostalgie: The Berlin Wall | older | $5.99 | 666 92% | 20k | $120k (exactly $119,680) | Nostalgames |
 | Deadwater Saloon | older | $19.99 | 186 63% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Tanglefoot Games |
 | Epic Manager - Create Your Own Adventuring Agency! | older | $17.99 | 184 61% | 5.5k | $99k (exactly $99,305) | ManaVoid Entertainment |
 | Hockey Manager 20|20 | older | $19.99 | 76 61% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $45,577) | netmin games |
 | Collapse: A Political Simulator | older | $6.99 | 168 66% | 5.0k | $35k (exactly $35,230) | Nostalgames |
 | EmberStride | $29.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $11k (exactly $10,796) | Sharkgame | |
 | Gold Defence | $9.99 | 20 65% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Gamesforgames | |
 | The Armed Shadow | $9.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Bastionforge | $9.99 | 17 76% | 510 | $5.1k (exactly $5,095) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Restart Mode | $9.99 | 16 81% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Winning Tactics | $9.99 | 14 78% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Summoner's Automata | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Survalker | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Happy Piggy 2 | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Gamesforgames | |
 | Maniac Path 4 | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Gamesforgames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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