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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Walking Simulator?
Walking Simulator + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 131 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Walking Simulator 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.. 189 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×647 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 189 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 5% | $307k (exactly $307,377) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 332 |
| Announced | 189 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Walking Simulator
- 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
- Walking Simulator, Choose Your Own Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 12,106 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 76 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 189 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Walking Simulator with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + WarFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + MusicFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + NoirFair
Comparable games
Life is Strange: Before the Storm 2017 · $17M 
THE LONGING 2020 · $3.1M 
Lake 2021 · $2.7M 
This Bed We Made 2023 · $2.4M 
G.O.P.O.T.A 2023 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Life is Strange: Before the Storm | older | $16.99 | 33,504 93% | 1.0M | $17M (exactly $17,076,989) | Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Fer… (Deck Nine, Feral Interactive (Mac), Feral Interactive (Linux)) |
| | THE LONGING | older | $14.99 | 6,977 92% | 209k | $3.1M (exactly $3,137,557) | Studio Seufz |
| | Lake | older | $19.99 | 4,484 87% | 135k | $2.7M (exactly $2,689,055) | Gamious |
| | This Bed We Made | older | $24.99 | 3,187 90% | 96k | $2.4M (exactly $2,389,294) | Lowbirth Games |
| | G.O.P.O.T.A | older | $29.99 | 1,493 81% | 45k | $1.3M (exactly $1,343,252) | VD Games, PropilGames |
 | OXENFREE II: Lost Signals | older | $19.99 | 1,976 88% | 59k | $1.2M (exactly $1,185,007) | Night School Studio |
 | The Town of Light | older | $18.99 | 2,052 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,024) | LKA |
 | Skoof Simulator | older | $29.99 | 935 83% | 28k | $841k (exactly $841,220) | PropilGames |
 | Road 96: Mile 0 | older | $12.96 | 1,880 67% | 56k | $731k (exactly $730,944) | Digixart |
 | The Red Lantern | older | $24.99 | 934 83% | 28k | $700k (exactly $700,220) | Timberline Studio |
 | Quadrober Simulator | $29.99 | 684 79% | 21k | $615k (exactly $615,395) | PropilGames | |
 | Tides of Tomorrow 🌊 | $29.99 | 521 86% | 16k | $469k (exactly $468,744) | Digixart | |
 | While We Wait Here | $4.99 | 2,344 89% | 70k | $351k (exactly $350,897) | Bad Vices Games | |
 | Maid Cafe on Electric Street | $18.99 | 595 82% | 18k | $339k (exactly $338,972) | Adventurer's Tavern | |
 | THRESHOLD | $9.99 | 1,103 84% | 33k | $331k (exactly $330,569) | Julien Eveillé | |
 | The Cabin Factory | $2.99 | 3,455 90% | 104k | $310k (exactly $309,914) | International Cat Studios | |
 | The Berlin Apartment | $24.99 | 410 92% | 12k | $307k (exactly $307,377) | Blue Backpack | |
 | GIRLS MADE PUDDING | $9.99 | 866 95% | 26k | $260k (exactly $259,540) | Kazuhide Oka | |
 | The Caribou Trail | $12.99 | 636 90% | 19k | $248k (exactly $247,849) | Unreliable Narrators, Manavoid Entertai… (Unreliable Narrators, Manavoid Entertainment) | |
 | Who's at the door? | $4.99 | 1,492 89% | 45k | $223k (exactly $223,352) | SKONEC Entertainment |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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