Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Souls-like?
Souls-like + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 23 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Souls-like 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.. 33 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.0k, ×2.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $620k, ×419 the market median. Revenue is up 16155% on the market; 33 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $446 (exactly $446) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.0k (exactly $3,957) |
| Top 25% | $41k (exactly $40,759) |
| Top 5% | $627k (exactly $627,443) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 59 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 16155% on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Choose Your Own Adventure; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $39.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Third Person, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $39.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 117,528 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Crimson Desert Enhanced | $69.99 | 115,056 83% | 3.5M | $242M (exactly $241,583,083) | Pearl Abyss | |
| | To Be or Not to Be | older | $12.99 | 8,035 89% | 241k | $3.1M (exactly $3,131,240) | Team K |
| | Hooked on You: A Dead by Daylight Dating Sim™ | older | $9.99 | 6,039 90% | 181k | $1.8M (exactly $1,809,888) | Psyop |
| | Skoof Simulator | older | $29.99 | 935 83% | 28k | $841k (exactly $841,220) | PropilGames |
| | Yusetsu | older | $16.99 | 1,262 88% | 38k | $643k (exactly $643,241) | DSGame |
| | Blades of Fire | $39.99 | 523 74% | 16k | $627k (exactly $627,443) | MercurySteam | |
| | There Is No Light: Enhanced Edition | older | $19.99 | 625 72% | 19k | $375k (exactly $374,812) | Zelart |
| | The Last Oricru - Final Cut | older | $19.99 | 557 67% | 17k | $334k (exactly $334,033) | GoldKnights |
| | The Married Woman Nextdoor - Creampie SEX Beside Her Husband | $9.99 | 933 86% | 28k | $280k (exactly $279,620) | AibanWork | |
| | Laid-Back Camp - Virtual - Lake Motosu | older | $19.99 | 362 80% | 11k | $217k (exactly $217,091) | Gemdrops, Inc. |
| | ZENONIA 1 | $9.99 | 430 80% | 13k | $129k (exactly $128,871) | Com2us Holdings, CFK Co., Ltd. | |
| | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
| | Deliria | $9.99 | 136 61% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $40,759) | Linesway | |
| | Big Beautiful Women: Giantess Dating Action | $19.99 | 58 93% | 1.7k | $35k (exactly $34,783) | Rakuen Soft | |
| | Beauty’s Target | $8.99 | 126 69% | 3.8k | $34k (exactly $33,982) | Beauty’s Target | |
| | Eydigard | · EA | $19.99 | 55 72% | 1.7k | $33k (exactly $32,984) | Frostisen Studio |
| | Three Wishes | $11.99 | 75 98% | 2.3k | $27k (exactly $26,978) | Kyuppin |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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