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Should I ship a Collectathon Investigation game?
Collectathon + Investigation
Of 33 developers who shipped a Collectathon Investigation 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.. 42 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $89; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×169 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 42 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $89 (exactly $89) |
|---|---|
| Median | $449 (exactly $449) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) |
| Top 5% | $80k (exactly $80,101) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 33 |
| Released games | 101 |
| Announced | 42 |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 15% fewer 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.
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Investigation
- 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, Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 1,459 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $89. 9 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Collectathon with a different second tag, 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
沉默的蟋蟀 2023 · $508k 
Logiart Grimoire 2024 · $201k 
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 2020 · $160k 
Digger: Galactic Treasures 2025 · $106k 
MAKOTO WAKAIDO’s Case Files TRILOGY DELUXE 2023 · $101k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 沉默的蟋蟀 | older | $14.99 | 1,130 88% | 34k | $508k (exactly $508,161) | 蓬莱飞鱼工作室 |
| | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
| | Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 | older | $9.99 | 533 98% | 16k | $160k (exactly $159,740) | Cosmo D |
| | Digger: Galactic Treasures | $4.99 | 711 87% | 21k | $106k (exactly $106,437) | RainStyle games | |
| | MAKOTO WAKAIDO’s Case Files TRILOGY DELUXE | older | $12.99 | 259 77% | 7.8k | $101k (exactly $100,932) | Hakababunko |
 | Sophia the Traveler | older | $8.99 | 302 77% | 9.1k | $81k (exactly $81,449) | Memo Gogo |
 | Mosaic of The Pharaohs | $8.99 | 297 92% | 8.9k | $80k (exactly $80,101) | Mark Ffrench | |
 | Jeffrey Eggstein | · EA | $4.99 | 290 94% | 8.7k | $43k (exactly $43,413) | Grabba Guild Games LLC |
 | Within Skerry | older | $4.99 | 226 78% | 6.8k | $34k (exactly $33,832) | Stanislaw Truchowski |
 | Tad the Lost Explorer | older | $19.99 | 38 73% | 1.1k | $23k (exactly $22,789) | Gammera Nest |
 | Retro Relics | $9.99 | 30 90% | 900 | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) | HistoryXPlorer | |
 | MeiQi 2024 | $14.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $6.3k (exactly $6,296) | QZQ Studio | |
 | Mound of Music | $9.99 | 19 78% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Elif Games | |
 | Sonar Scout | $5.99 | 26 100% | 780 | $4.7k (exactly $4,672) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose, Neil Do… (Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose, Neil Doppelmayr, Christoph Englert, Pontus Liljekvist, Hugo Roque) | |
 | The Fox Hare Disaster: Chapter One | $3.99 | 33 96% | 990 | $4.0k (exactly $3,950) | Dream Oni, Cosmic Boop, Valorware | |
 | Detective Club: Gallery of Shadows Collector's Edition | $11.99 | 10 50% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Do Games Limited | |
 | HANGAR 8 | $3.99 | 29 86% | 870 | $3.5k (exactly $3,471) | Twin Tail Digital |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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