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Should I ship a Detective Collectathon game?
Collectathon + Detective
Of 25 developers who shipped a Detective Collectathon 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.. 35 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 14 developers shipped in the last year and 35 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 5% | $82k (exactly $82,482) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 down 65% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Puzzle, Hidden Object
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Cute, Family Friendly
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 2,041 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Collectathon with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CapitalismStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + ManagementFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Level EditorFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SokobanFair
- + MythologyFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Combat RacingFair
Comparable games
Supraworld 2025 · EA · $1.3M 
Logiart Grimoire 2024 · $201k 
Shelve the Potions! 2026 · $82k 
Sunshine Shuffle 2023 · $47k 
Who is Abby 2024 · $46k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Supraworld | · EA | $29.99 | 1,471 91% | 44k | $1.3M (exactly $1,323,459) | Supra Games |
| | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
| | Shelve the Potions! | $5.99 | 459 87% | 14k | $82k (exactly $82,482) | Knight Owl Games | |
| | Sunshine Shuffle | older | $9.99 | 156 76% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $46,753) | Strange Scaffold |
| | Who is Abby | older | $19.99 | 77 79% | 2.3k | $46k (exactly $46,177) | CyberFlux Games, Gabro Media |
 | Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber. | older | $19.99 | 45 86% | 1.4k | $27k (exactly $26,986) | Mácula Interactive |
 | Hodgepodge Hunch | older | $4.99 | 140 93% | 4.2k | $21k (exactly $20,958) | uracon |
 | Fantastic Findings Hidden Seasons | $11.99 | 29 89% | 870 | $10k (exactly $10,431) | Shapeshift Entertainment ApS | |
 | Abnormal1999:The Compass and the Sand | older | $2.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $6.6k (exactly $6,638) | QZQ Studio |
 | MeiQi 2024 | $14.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | QZQ Studio | |
 | Detective Club: Gallery of Shadows Collector's Edition | $11.99 | 10 50% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Do Games Limited | |
 | Cats Visiting Christmas Town | $1.99 | 40 90% | 1.2k | $2.4k (exactly $2,388) | AGE Zero, Purrfect | |
 | Just Find It 4 | $11.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) | Tiny Little Lion | |
 | The Newton Mystery | $5.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | In The Snow Studios | |
 | Dead Wrong Detective | · EA | $12.34 | 2 50% | 60 | $740 (exactly $740) | NITOPU |
 | Vampire Prison | $5.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | MYJIKA INC. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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