Games › Dynamic Narration › Dynamic Narration + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Dynamic Narration game?
Dynamic Narration + Crime
Only 15 developers shipped a Crime Dynamic Narration game 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, Heaven Does Not Respond, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×253 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 37 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $8.0k (exactly $7,983) |
| Top 5% | $159k (exactly $158,841) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 up 50% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Crime
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Dynamic Narration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choices Matter, Investigation, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 859 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dynamic Narration with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SportsStrong odds
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ModernFair
- + TacticalFair
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + Word GamePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
Comparable games
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019 · $32M 
Heavy Rain 2020 · $16M 
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience 2020 · $1.6M 
Between Horizons – A Sci-Fi Detective Adventure 2024 · $189k 
Heaven Does Not Respond 2026 · $159k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy | older | $29.99 | 35,628 97% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,054,512) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Heavy Rain | older | $19.99 | 26,503 85% | 795k | $16M (exactly $15,893,849) | Quantic Dream |
| | CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience | older | $19.99 | 2,596 91% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) | Delve Interactive |
| | Between Horizons – A Sci-Fi Detective Adventure | older | $15.99 | 395 88% | 12k | $189k (exactly $189,482) | DigiTales Interactive |
| | Heaven Does Not Respond | $9.99 | 530 90% | 16k | $159k (exactly $158,841) | Rise Studios | |
 | Psych | older | $9.99 | 318 79% | 9.5k | $95k (exactly $95,305) | MediaTale |
 | Omen Exitio: Hunger | $9.99 | 117 88% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | Tiny Bull Studios | |
 | RE:CALL | older | $19.99 | 52 90% | 1.6k | $31k (exactly $31,184) | maitan69 |
 | Bright Paw: Definitive Edition | older | $12.99 | 76 69% | 2.3k | $30k (exactly $29,617) | Radical Forge |
 | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games | |
 | DEATH TRAIN!!! Samara – Voronezh. | $2.99 | 89 89% | 2.7k | $8.0k (exactly $7,983) | mitcha | |
 | Empire of Vice : Chicago | · EA | $16.99 | 9 77% | 270 | $4.6k (exactly $4,587) | Artifex Parvus |
 | REARVIEW MIRROR | $11.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $3.2k (exactly $3,237) | CUBUS GAMES SL | |
 | Look At Me | $4.99 | 8 62% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Silly Tiger | |
 | My Oppai Mommy Makes Me Want To Spill All Of My Company Secrets | $6.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Peach Punch | |
 | Accident Investigator Simulator: Black Box | $10.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $989 (exactly $989) | Cottondream Studio | |
 | Prison Glow | $5.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $719 (exactly $719) | KromiXX |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.