Do I ship it?

GamesCookingCooking + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Cooking game?

Cooking + Interactive Fiction

Of 38 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Cooking 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.. 54 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×7.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $980; 1 in 20 cleared $1.6M, ×3530 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 54 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 54 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Cooking + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $33k → $2.5k → $4.8k → $60k → $17k → $10k → $3.2k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Cooking + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $980 (exactly $980)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,582)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,350)
Top 5% $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 74
Announced 54
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 55% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Cooking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Cooking, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Visual Novel
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 9,764 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $980, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $1.6M.

3 in 10 developers made under $980. 7 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 54 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Cooking with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorFair54 devs · median $14k · 68 announced
  2. + DogsFair12 devs · median $8.1k · 12 announced
  3. + Turn-Based CombatFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  4. + Point & ClickFair68 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  5. + LogicFair27 devs · median $1.6k · 26 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair28 devs · median $1.4k · 30 announced
  7. + Hidden ObjectFair25 devs · median $1.0k · 20 announced
  8. + PuzzleFair77 devs · median $958 · 92 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligencePoor odds15 devs · median $73k · 10 announced
  10. + JRPGPoor odds13 devs · median $34k · 25 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds16 devs · median $30k · 32 announced
  12. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds12 devs · median $26k · 23 announced

All 95 pairs on the Cooking page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty older $9.99 49,765 94% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,914,570) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Tavern Keeper 🍻 · EA $29.99 4,563 94% 137k $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) Greenheart Games 💚
Kaiju Princess 2 $17.99 3,107 96% 93k $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) PantyParrot
Venba older $14.99 2,393 93% 72k $1.1M (exactly $1,076,132) Visai Games
GIRLS MADE PUDDING $9.99 866 95% 26k $260k (exactly $259,540) Kazuhide Oka
Kurage Life $10.99 588 90% 18k $194k (exactly $193,864) TAIL-AKI
Chihiro Himukai Always Walks Away older $19.99 320 96% 9.6k $192k (exactly $191,904) SMILE
Waning Flowers of a World Eternal - The Rainbow Appears After Flowering Rain $19.99 297 96% 8.9k $178k (exactly $178,111) SWEET&TEA
Midnight Ramen older $11.99 294 96% 8.8k $106k (exactly $105,752) Cointinue Games
Bartender Hustle older $14.99 222 83% 6.7k $100k (exactly $99,833) Departure Interactive
Marshmallow All the Way Home $29.99 44 95% 1.3k $40k (exactly $39,587) Marmalade
Tavern Talk 2: Dreamwalker $14.99 66 89% 2.0k $30k (exactly $29,680) Gentle Troll Entertainment
My Party Needs An Alchemist $19.99 40 87% 1.2k $24k (exactly $23,988) Gilded Rune Games
Apocalypse: The Last RV · EA $4.99 159 68% 4.8k $24k (exactly $23,802) 光年切片工作室
Tales from The Dancing Moon $17.99 34 88% 1.0k $18k (exactly $18,350) DjMonkey

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.