Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Dark Fantasy
Should I ship a Dark-Fantasy Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Dark Fantasy
Of 247 developers who shipped a Dark-Fantasy Puzzle 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.. 442 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×368 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 442 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $9.2k (exactly $9,175) |
| Top 5% | $231k (exactly $231,146) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 247 |
| Released games | 808 |
| Announced | 442 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
- Dark Fantasy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 22,929 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 139 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 442 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
A Plague Tale: Innocence 2019 · $76M 
Darksiders III 2018 · $15M 
Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition 2015 · $15M 
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales 2018 · $9.4M 
Fran Bow 2015 · $9.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | A Plague Tale: Innocence | older | $39.99 | 63,166 93% | 1.9M | $76M (exactly $75,780,250) | Asobo Studio |
| | Darksiders III | older | $39.99 | 12,519 75% | 376k | $15M (exactly $15,019,044) | Gunfire Games |
| | Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition | older | $29.99 | 16,313 78% | 489k | $15M (exactly $14,676,806) | Gunfire Games, Vigil Games, THQ Nordic |
| | Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales | older | $19.99 | 15,665 89% | 470k | $9.4M (exactly $9,394,300) | CD PROJEKT RED |
| | Fran Bow | older | $14.99 | 20,579 97% | 617k | $9.3M (exactly $9,254,376) | Killmonday Games AB |
 | Darksiders Warmastered Edition | older | $19.99 | 13,942 88% | 418k | $8.4M (exactly $8,361,017) | KAIKO, Vigil Games |
 | The Last Campfire | older | $14.99 | 17,406 97% | 522k | $7.8M (exactly $7,827,478) | Hello Games |
 | Little Misfortune | older | $19.99 | 11,789 92% | 354k | $7.1M (exactly $7,069,863) | Killmonday Games AB |
 | Hell is Us | $49.99 | 4,279 83% | 128k | $6.4M (exactly $6,417,216) | Rogue Factor | |
 | Legacy of Kain™ Soul Reaver 1&2 Remastered | $29.99 | 3,042 90% | 91k | $2.7M (exactly $2,736,887) | Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics | |
 | The Midnight Walk | $29.99 | 2,682 92% | 80k | $2.4M (exactly $2,412,995) | MoonHood | |
 | Heretic + Hexen | $14.99 | 1,789 95% | 54k | $805k (exactly $804,513) | id Software, Nightdive Studios | |
 | Metal Garden | $5.99 | 4,375 96% | 131k | $786k (exactly $786,188) | Tinerasoft | |
 | Horripilant | $7.99 | 2,928 92% | 88k | $702k (exactly $701,842) | Alexandre Declos , Pas Game Studio | |
 | Is this Game Trying to Kill Me? | $14.99 | 1,513 95% | 45k | $680k (exactly $680,396) | Stately Snail | |
 | Incantation | $16.99 | 1,106 73% | 33k | $564k (exactly $563,728) | SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT | |
 | Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered | $24.99 | 641 96% | 19k | $481k (exactly $480,558) | Crystal Dynamics, PlayEveryWare | |
 | Slender Threads | $19.99 | 574 90% | 17k | $344k (exactly $344,228) | Blyts |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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