Games › Choose Your Own Adventure › Choose Your Own Adventure + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Choose Your Own Adventure + Lovecraftian
Of 31 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian 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.. 58 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×5.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×409 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 58 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,270) |
| Top 5% | $194k (exactly $194,270) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 98 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 80% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choose Your Own Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,447 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
The Casting of Frank Stone™ 2024 · $5.0M 
Scarlet Hollow 2021 · EA · $4.3M 
Shadows Over Loathing 2022 · $2.2M 
Abandon Ship 2019 · $863k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | The Casting of Frank Stone™ | older | $29.99 | 5,580 62% | 167k | $5.0M (exactly $5,020,326) | Supermassive Games |
| | Scarlet Hollow | · EA older | $29.99 | 4,833 97% | 145k | $4.3M (exactly $4,348,250) | Black Tabby Games |
| | Shadows Over Loathing | older | $22.99 | 3,120 95% | 94k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,864) | Asymmetric |
| | Abandon Ship | older | $24.99 | 1,151 71% | 35k | $863k (exactly $862,905) | Fireblade Software |
 | Heart Cage | $20.99 | 363 97% | 11k | $229k (exactly $228,581) | RiceLoveCoffee | |
 | BLACKSHARD | $14.99 | 432 91% | 13k | $194k (exactly $194,270) | Redlock Studio, Enclave | |
 | Omen Exitio: Plague | older | $9.99 | 495 85% | 15k | $148k (exactly $148,352) | Tiny Bull Studios |
 | The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker | older | $8.99 | 549 82% | 16k | $148k (exactly $148,065) | D'Avekki Studios Ltd |
 | Letter Lost | $19.99 | 156 82% | 4.7k | $94k (exactly $93,553) | FlatNine Games | |
 | Omen Exitio: Hunger | $9.99 | 117 88% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | Tiny Bull Studios | |
 | The Allure Of Wanton Cove | $9.99 | 114 78% | 3.4k | $34k (exactly $34,166) | Ktulhu Solutions, Aftermath | |
 | 49 Keys | $9.99 | 76 77% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Michele Buonanno, Veronica Wu, Fabio Po… (Michele Buonanno, Veronica Wu, Fabio Porfidia) | |
 | Care | $9.99 | 72 94% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,578) | The Pocket Dimension | |
 | Marry a Deep One: Innsmouth Simulator | $17.99 | 32 50% | 960 | $17k (exactly $17,270) | simulinati | |
 | NoseBound | $14.99 | 36 86% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | Quarantine Interactive | |
 | Void Sails | $9.99 | 49 69% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $14,685) | Ticking Clock Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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