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Should I ship a Demon Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Demons
Of 81 developers who shipped a Demon Interactive Fiction 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.. 99 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×166 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 99 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $390 (exactly $390) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) |
| Top 5% | $79k (exactly $78,719) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 81 |
| Released games | 217 |
| Announced | 99 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 50% 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.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Demons
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Dark, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 5,793 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 9 in 10 of the 48 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
Sally Face - Episode One 2016 · $2.5M 
Forbidden Solitaire 2026 · $1.1M 
DevilConnection 2025 · $975k 
Infliction 2018 · $495k 
Demonheart 2017 · $428k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sally Face - Episode One | older | $2.99 | 27,502 97% | 825k | $2.5M (exactly $2,466,929) | Portable Moose |
| | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
| | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames | |
| | Infliction | older | $19.99 | 825 80% | 25k | $495k (exactly $494,752) | Caustic Reality |
| | Demonheart | older | $19.99 | 714 89% | 21k | $428k (exactly $428,186) | Rolling Crown |
 | DYSTHANASIA | $24.99 | 334 88% | 10k | $250k (exactly $250,400) | Madowaku Kobo | |
 | iBLiS | older | $9.99 | 687 41% | 21k | $206k (exactly $205,894) | Bulut ULU |
 | Demonheart: Hunters | older | $19.99 | 283 83% | 8.5k | $170k (exactly $169,715) | Rolling Crown |
 | Kon's Lesson! | older | $9.99 | 560 88% | 17k | $168k (exactly $167,832) | Fox House |
 | Eyes: The Horror Game | older | $4.99 | 923 90% | 28k | $138k (exactly $138,173) | Fearless Games |
 | Demonheart: The Cursed Trial | $24.99 | 115 90% | 3.5k | $86k (exactly $86,216) | Rolling Crown | |
 | Heart of the Forest | $12.99 | 202 70% | 6.1k | $79k (exactly $78,719) | Trapped Predator | |
 | Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists | $24.99 | 76 78% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | A Sharp | |
 | Game of Hearts | $9.99 | 180 93% | 5.4k | $54k (exactly $53,946) | SparkHG | |
 | Daemonologie | $2.99 | 561 92% | 17k | $50k (exactly $50,322) | Katanalevy | |
 | My Demonic Romance | $19.99 | 72 81% | 2.2k | $43k (exactly $43,178) | Andrealphus Games | |
 | LABYRINTHOS: The Depths Want You | $24.99 | 57 84% | 1.7k | $43k (exactly $42,733) | Astronauts |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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