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Should I ship a Cold-War Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Cold War
Only 8 developers shipped a Cold-War Interactive Fiction in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Heroines Through My Lens, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×8.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×160 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) |
| Top 25% | $37k (exactly $36,674) |
| Top 5% | $101k (exactly $100,750) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 29 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 600% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 28%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Cold War
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 2,584 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
South of the Circle 2022 · $524k 
Heroines Through My Lens 2025 · $101k 
Orwell's Animal Farm 2020 · $45k 
子夜之章:历史的终局～MidNights of Desperado～ 2021 · $40k 
60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room 2025 · $37k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | South of the Circle | older | $12.99 | 1,345 83% | 40k | $524k (exactly $524,146) | State of Play |
| | Heroines Through My Lens | $19.99 | 168 87% | 5.0k | $101k (exactly $100,750) | Storytaco | |
| | Orwell's Animal Farm | older | $9.99 | 150 75% | 4.5k | $45k (exactly $44,955) | Nerial |
| | 子夜之章:历史的终局～MidNights of Desperado～ | older | $4.99 | 267 98% | 8.0k | $40k (exactly $39,970) | 银阼 |
| | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games | |
 | Jey's Empire | older | $14.99 | 68 85% | 2.0k | $31k (exactly $30,580) | Maestro Cinetik |
 | Nobodies: After Death | older | $6.99 | 111 95% | 3.3k | $23k (exactly $23,277) | Blyts |
 | 1953 - KGB Unleashed | older | $2.99 | 218 63% | 6.5k | $20k (exactly $19,555) | · |
 | DreamBreak | older | $6.99 | 48 56% | 1.4k | $10k (exactly $10,066) | Fortell Games |
 | D3AD HAND | older | $4.99 | 56 100% | 1.7k | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) | Duck Made Of Wood |
 | Project Looking Glass | $4.99 | 47 100% | 1.4k | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) | MORPH | |
 | Femboy Streamer | $11.99 | 14 35% | 420 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | Pepperjak | |
 | Your letter has been rejected. | $5.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $3.8k (exactly $3,774) | MONAZ. | |
 | 墨缇斯：霾影季度 | $5.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | 青礼社Bendetizoin | |
 | A Sea of Grey & Green | $5.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $180 (exactly $180) | Gruffers Studio | |
 | Duty Guvnor | $8.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Articulable LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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