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Should I ship a Quick-Time Events Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Quick-Time Events + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 29 developers who shipped a Quick-Time Events 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.. 28 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×8.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $2.0M, ×4221 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 28 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $27,279) |
| Top 5% | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 250% on the market, supply 25% 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.
- Quick-Time Events
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Quick-Time Events, 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 $49.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $49.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 79% positive over 6,940 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Quick-Time Events with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + Shoot 'Em UpFair
- + Life SimFair
- + SimulationFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Resource ManagementFair
- + FlightFair
- + AliensFair
- + SpaceFair
- + Bullet TimeLong shot
- + DemonsLong shot
- + Bullet HellLong shot
Comparable games
The Walking Dead 2012 · $24M 
The Wolf Among Us 2013 · $15M 
The Walking Dead: Season Two 2013 · $12M 
Tales from the Borderlands 2021 · $9.1M 
Batman - The Telltale Series 2016 · $6.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Walking Dead | older | $14.99 | 53,650 97% | 1.6M | $24M (exactly $24,126,405) | Telltale Games |
| | The Wolf Among Us | older | $14.99 | 32,494 97% | 975k | $15M (exactly $14,612,552) | Telltale |
| | The Walking Dead: Season Two | older | $14.99 | 26,848 96% | 805k | $12M (exactly $12,073,546) | Telltale Games |
| | Tales from the Borderlands | older | $19.99 | 15,101 93% | 453k | $9.1M (exactly $9,056,070) | Telltale Games |
| | Batman - The Telltale Series | older | $14.99 | 15,060 87% | 452k | $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) | Telltale |
 | Until Dawn™ | $59.99 | 3,564 82% | 107k | $6.4M (exactly $6,414,131) | Ballistic Moon | |
 | Batman: The Enemy Within - The Telltale Series | older | $14.99 | 8,877 92% | 266k | $4.0M (exactly $3,991,987) | Telltale |
 | New Tales from the Borderlands | older | $39.99 | 1,737 29% | 52k | $2.1M (exactly $2,083,879) | Gearbox Software |
 | Directive 8020 | $49.99 | 1,337 63% | 40k | $2.0M (exactly $2,005,099) | Supermassive Games | |
 | 恋爱单选题 | older | $10.99 | 2,424 81% | 73k | $799k (exactly $799,193) | 无忧传媒 |
 | The Use of Life | $19.99 | 764 90% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games | |
 | Rock Star Life Simulator | $12.49 | 498 85% | 15k | $187k (exactly $186,601) | HOGO Games | |
 | 蜀汉再临：源起 Restart ShuHan Dynasty:Origin | $3.99 | 357 76% | 11k | $43k (exactly $42,733) | 浙江海蕊盈信网络科技有限公司 | |
 | The Supper: New Blood | $9.99 | 120 88% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,964) | White Blanket Games | |
 | Ragnar | $14.99 | 61 83% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Fimbulwinter Games | |
 | With Eyes Closed - Season 2 | $12.99 | 70 78% | 2.1k | $27k (exactly $27,279) | Ker | |
 | Legends of Savvarah: Children of the Sun | $7.99 | 75 92% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $17,978) | ST Sinovar | |
 | Legends of Savvarah: Flowers and Scorpions | $5.99 | 94 95% | 2.8k | $17k (exactly $16,892) | ST Sinovar |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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