Games › Crafting › Crafting + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Crafting game?
Crafting + Psychological Horror
Of 51 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Crafting 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.. 119 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×2714 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 119 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) |
| Top 25% | $29k (exactly $29,358) |
| Top 5% | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 51 |
| Released games | 118 |
| Announced | 119 |
| 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 down 35% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Crafting
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 27,696 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 119 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
We Happy Few 2018 · $20M 
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days 2025 · EA · $6.8M 
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
METAL GEAR SURVIVE 2018 · $3.3M 
DESOLATE 2019 · $2.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | We Happy Few | older | $59.99 | 11,204 76% | 336k | $20M (exactly $20,163,839) | Compulsion Games |
| | Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days | · EA | $24.99 | 9,049 89% | 271k | $6.8M (exactly $6,784,035) | PikPok |
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | METAL GEAR SURVIVE | older | $29.99 | 3,687 64% | 111k | $3.3M (exactly $3,317,194) | KONAMI |
| | DESOLATE | older | $14.99 | 6,228 68% | 187k | $2.8M (exactly $2,800,732) | Nearga |
 | Card Survival: Tropical Island | older | $24.99 | 2,962 94% | 89k | $2.2M (exactly $2,220,611) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Wanderstop | $24.99 | 2,938 92% | 88k | $2.2M (exactly $2,202,619) | Ivy Road | |
 | REKA | · EA older | $19.99 | 2,989 82% | 90k | $1.8M (exactly $1,792,503) | Emberstorm Entertainment |
 | Fisher Online | older | $13.99 | 4,199 81% | 126k | $1.8M (exactly $1,762,320) | R-Age LLC |
 | ANEURISM IV | $9.99 | 5,686 75% | 171k | $1.7M (exactly $1,704,094) | Vellocet | |
 | Lucid Blocks | $9.99 | 4,670 93% | 140k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,599) | Lucy B. Locks | |
 | Total Chaos | $24.99 | 1,561 86% | 47k | $1.2M (exactly $1,170,282) | Trigger Happy Interactive | |
 | Village in the Shade | $49.99 | 552 91% | 17k | $828k (exactly $827,834) | Nippon Ichi Software, Inc. | |
 | DIVE or DIE - Children of Rain | $17.99 | 1,255 91% | 38k | $677k (exactly $677,323) | Drop Rate Studio | |
 | Deathground | · EA | $14.99 | 877 61% | 26k | $394k (exactly $394,387) | Jaw Drop Games |
 | Stygian: Outer Gods | · EA | $24.99 | 516 80% | 15k | $387k (exactly $386,845) | Misterial Games |
 | Backrooms Lost Runners | · EA | $13.99 | 592 75% | 18k | $248k (exactly $248,462) | ShimStudioGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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