Games › CRPG › CRPG + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure CRPG?
CRPG + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 72 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure CRPG 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.. 122 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×1.4 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×326 the market median. Revenue is up 45% on the market; 122 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,485) |
| Top 5% | $488k (exactly $488,286) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 187 |
| Announced | 122 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 45% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- CRPG
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- CRPG, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 10,669 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 122 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
CRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + TabletopFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + IncrementalLong shot
- + FMVPoor odds
- + Card BattlerPoor odds
- + Grid-Based MovementPoor odds
- + SpacePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Souls-likePoor odds
Comparable games
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut 2023 · $17M 
Shadows Over Loathing 2022 · $2.2M 
Guild Wars® Reforged 2025 · $2.0M 
Gedonia 2022 · $1.6M 
Vagrus - The Riven Realms 2021 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut | older | $17.99 | 31,885 96% | 957k | $17M (exactly $17,208,334) | Black Tabby Games |
| | Shadows Over Loathing | older | $22.99 | 3,120 95% | 94k | $2.2M (exactly $2,151,864) | Asymmetric |
| | Guild Wars® Reforged | $19.99 | 3,265 87% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,958,020) | ArenaNet® | |
| | Gedonia | older | $14.99 | 3,659 87% | 110k | $1.6M (exactly $1,645,452) | Kazakov Oleg |
| | Vagrus - The Riven Realms | older | $29.99 | 1,746 84% | 52k | $1.6M (exactly $1,570,876) | Lost Pilgrims Studio |
 | The Nameless: Slay Dragon | $17.99 | 2,050 91% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,106,385) | The Nameless Epic | |
 | Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum | older | $19.99 | 1,574 92% | 47k | $944k (exactly $943,928) | AstralShift, VisuStella |
 | Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness | older | $29.99 | 924 74% | 28k | $831k (exactly $831,323) | GrapeOcean Technologies |
 | Corsairs Legacy - Pirate Action RPG & Sea Battles | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,094 74% | 33k | $656k (exactly $656,072) | Mauris, Tech-5 UG |
 | Happy Island Fantasy | $14.99 | 1,186 88% | 36k | $533k (exactly $533,344) | HappyCreator | |
 | Hua Manlou | $10.99 | 1,481 97% | 44k | $488k (exactly $488,286) | 初域游戏 | |
 | The Use of Life | $19.99 | 764 90% | 23k | $458k (exactly $458,171) | だらねこげーむず/Daraneko Games | |
 | 消失的航班，还有她她她！Lost in the secret! | $19.99 | 602 89% | 18k | $361k (exactly $361,019) | Humongous Pictures | |
 | 这个CEO我当定了！ | $7.99 | 462 82% | 14k | $111k (exactly $110,741) | 叁石肆两 | |
 | Don't FOOL ME, Beauties! | $9.99 | 367 86% | 11k | $110k (exactly $109,990) | Storytaco | |
 | Afallon | · EA | $11.99 | 262 79% | 7.9k | $94k (exactly $94,241) | Stargazing interactive |
 | Elder Ring | · EA | $9.99 | 230 40% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $68,931) | Funny as Hell |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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