Do I ship it?

GamesChoose Your Own AdventureChoose Your Own Adventure + Historical

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Historical Choose Your Own Adventure game?

Choose Your Own Adventure + Historical

Of 98 developers who shipped a Historical 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.. 175 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×778 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 175 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 175 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Choose Your Own Adventure + Historical
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 98
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.8k → $17k → $6.2k → $2.1k → $14k → $1.1k → $2.5k (still earning) → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Choose Your Own Adventure + Historical: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 98
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,249)
Top 25% $27k (exactly $27,048)
Top 5% $488k (exactly $488,286)
Developers, 2 yr 98
Released games 294
Announced 175
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 35% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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
Historical
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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 Choices Matter, Adventure, Multiple Endings
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 74% positive over 22,643 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $27k, 1 in 20 over $480k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 175 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Choose Your Own Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RhythmStrong odds23 devs · median $3.3k · 18 announced
  2. + FMVFair79 devs · median $54k · 74 announced
  3. + FlightFair9 devs · median $2.4k · 11 announced
  4. + SportsFair38 devs · median $2.4k · 41 announced
  5. + Word GameFair55 devs · median $1.4k · 65 announced
  6. + MilitaryFair23 devs · median $898 · 24 announced
  7. + Score AttackFair14 devs · median $898 · 11 announced
  8. + IdlerFair41 devs · median $718 · 36 announced
  9. + GamblingFair10 devs · median $494 · 14 announced
  10. + Local MultiplayerFair13 devs · median $449 · 16 announced
  11. + 3D FighterLong shot17 devs · median $1.0k · 20 announced
  12. + NavalPoor odds9 devs · median $14k · 16 announced

All 198 pairs on the Choose Your Own Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Assassin's Creed® Odyssey older $59.99 172,149 89% 5.2M $310M (exactly $309,816,555) Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubiso… (Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Bucharest, Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Montpellier, Ubisoft Kiev, Ubisoft Shanghai)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance older $29.99 143,303 83% 4.3M $129M (exactly $128,929,709) Warhorse Studios
Anno 1800 older $59.99 29,854 81% 896k $54M (exactly $53,728,244) Ubisoft Mainz
Anno 117: Pax Romana $59.99 12,150 69% 365k $22M (exactly $21,866,355) Ubisoft Mainz
Yes, Your Grace older $19.99 12,571 87% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,538,829) Brave At Night
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles older $39.99 5,113 93% 153k $6.1M (exactly $6,134,066) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Pentiment older $19.99 9,231 95% 277k $5.5M (exactly $5,535,831) Obsidian Entertainment
Fate/stay night REMASTERED older $29.99 4,277 95% 128k $3.8M (exactly $3,848,017) TYPE-MOON, fuzz Inc.
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth older $19.99 5,926 92% 178k $3.6M (exactly $3,553,822) Daedalic Entertainment
This Bed We Made older $24.99 3,187 90% 96k $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) Lowbirth Games
Hollywood Animal · EA $19.99 3,845 73% 115k $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) Weappy Wholesome
Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall $24.99 1,488 76% 45k $1.1M (exactly $1,115,554) Brave At Night
Game of Fate 2: A Century's Promise $15.99 1,054 78% 32k $506k (exactly $505,604) KARMAGAME HK LIMITED
Hua Manlou $10.99 1,481 97% 44k $488k (exactly $488,286) 初域游戏
Celestial Empire · EA $19.99 709 89% 21k $425k (exactly $425,187) President Studio
Ways of Alchemy $17.99 674 74% 20k $364k (exactly $363,758) RocketBrush Games
Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon $59.99 196 91% 5.9k $353k (exactly $352,741) dramatic create
The Berlin Apartment $24.99 410 92% 12k $307k (exactly $307,377) Blue Backpack
The Caribou Trail $12.99 636 90% 19k $248k (exactly $247,849) Unreliable Narrators, Manavoid Entertai… (Unreliable Narrators, Manavoid Entertainment)

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.