Games › Hack and Slash › Hack and Slash + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Choose Your Own Adventure
Only 17 developers shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Hack and Slash 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, Blades of Fire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 55 more are announced, ×5.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×999 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 55 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,436) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,708) |
| Top 5% | $627k (exactly $627,443) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 55 |
| 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 up 30% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hack and Slash
- 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
- Hack and Slash, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, RPG, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 1,183 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Turn-BasedStrong odds
- + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds
- + VampiresFair
- + ModernFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal 2023 · $114M 
Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M 
Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 2023 · $4.3M 
Way of the Samurai 4 2015 · $1.5M 
Blades of Fire 2026 · $627k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 鬼谷八荒 Tale of Immortal | older | $19.99 | 190,184 56% | 5.7M | $114M (exactly $114,053,345) | 鬼谷工作室 |
| | Hand of Fate | older | $19.99 | 8,009 89% | 240k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) | Defiant Development |
| | Ultimate Epic Battle Simulator 2 | older | $19.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $4.3M (exactly $4,321,438) | Brilliant Game Studios |
| | Way of the Samurai 4 | older | $24.99 | 1,939 76% | 58k | $1.5M (exactly $1,453,668) | ACQUIRE Corp. |
| | Blades of Fire | $39.99 | 523 74% | 16k | $627k (exactly $627,443) | MercurySteam | |
 | Way of the Samurai 3 | older | $19.99 | 871 73% | 26k | $522k (exactly $522,339) | ACQUIRE Corp. |
 | There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 625 72% | 19k | $375k (exactly $374,812) | Zelart |
 | Anima: Gate of Memories | older | $19.99 | 580 70% | 17k | $348k (exactly $347,826) | Anima Project |
 | That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Demon Hand | $9.99 | 375 84% | 11k | $112k (exactly $112,388) | Tora Creatives | |
 | Rabbit Hole | older | $7.99 | 264 78% | 7.9k | $63k (exactly $63,281) | Nikita Ustinov, Nikolay Lazarev |
 | Deliria | $9.99 | 136 61% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $40,759) | Linesway | |
 | Ragnar | $14.99 | 61 83% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Fimbulwinter Games | |
 | Willow Guard | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | MiTale | |
 | Ancient the Dimensions | · EA | $14.99 | 11 9% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | HEADSTONE STUDIO |
 | Red Rampant: Chapter 1 | $9.99 | 14 85% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Eclectic Synthesis Limited, Red Rampant… (Eclectic Synthesis Limited, Red Rampant Studios) | |
 | Mikoshi: The Lost Crystals | $5.99 | 11 90% | 330 | $2.0k (exactly $1,977) | DremGames | |
 | Assassin Of Goblin | $3.99 | 12 66% | 360 | $1.4k (exactly $1,436) | Saylor Games | |
 | Golden Escape | $14.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | GaniTani |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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