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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 73 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Resource Management 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.. 176 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×2349 the market median. Revenue is up 155% on the market; 176 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,796) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $11,242) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,554) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 73 |
| Released games | 183 |
| Announced | 176 |
| 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 155% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Resource Management
- 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
- Resource Management, Choose Your Own Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Simulation, Management
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 26,073 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 38 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 176 games are announced against 42 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Anno 1800 2019 · $54M 
Anno 117: Pax Romana 2025 · $22M 
Yes, Your Grace 2020 · $7.5M 
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
Out of Ore 2022 · $3.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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 |
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | Out of Ore | older | $24.99 | 3,978 85% | 119k | $3.0M (exactly $2,982,307) | North Modding Company AB |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Hollywood Animal | · EA | $19.99 | 3,845 73% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,305,846) | Weappy Wholesome |
 | Vagrus - The Riven Realms | older | $29.99 | 1,746 84% | 52k | $1.6M (exactly $1,570,876) | Lost Pilgrims Studio |
 | Sailwind | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,312 89% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,386,506) | Raw Lion Workshop |
 | Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall | $24.99 | 1,488 76% | 45k | $1.1M (exactly $1,115,554) | Brave At Night | |
 | 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 | |
 | Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator | $13.99 | 411 85% | 12k | $172k (exactly $172,497) | Purple Heads Games | |
 | Frostrain 2 | $10.99 | 374 89% | 11k | $123k (exactly $123,308) | nemonan | |
 | Dead in Antares | $19.99 | 189 77% | 5.7k | $113k (exactly $113,343) | Ishtar Games | |
 | SEX Guild Simulator ⚔️🔞 | $14.99 | 210 59% | 6.3k | $94k (exactly $94,437) | Lewd Star |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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