Games › Dynamic Narration › Dynamic Narration + Detective
Should I ship a Detective Dynamic Narration game?
Dynamic Narration + Detective
Of 25 developers who shipped a Detective Dynamic Narration 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.. 70 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×334 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 70 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $26,110) |
| Top 5% | $159k (exactly $158,841) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 25 |
| Released games | 80 |
| Announced | 70 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 35% on the market, supply 155% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Dynamic Narration; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Investigation, Interactive Fiction, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 3,473 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 70 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 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 
Observer: System Redux 2020 · $2.2M 
Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure 2014 · $377k 
The Inquisitor 2024 · $332k | 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 |
| | Observer: System Redux | older | $29.99 | 2,462 84% | 74k | $2.2M (exactly $2,215,061) | Bloober Team, Anshar Studios |
| | Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure | older | $19.99 | 628 90% | 19k | $377k (exactly $376,612) | Big Finish Games |
| | The Inquisitor | older | $39.99 | 277 66% | 8.3k | $332k (exactly $332,317) | The Dust S.A. |
 | Eternal Threads | older | $19.99 | 543 87% | 16k | $326k (exactly $325,637) | Cosmonaut Studios |
 | TR-49 | $6.99 | 1,197 94% | 36k | $251k (exactly $251,011) | inkle Ltd | |
 | Between Horizons – A Sci-Fi Detective Adventure | older | $15.99 | 395 88% | 12k | $189k (exactly $189,482) | DigiTales Interactive |
 | Betrayal At Club Low | older | $9.99 | 538 97% | 16k | $161k (exactly $161,239) | Cosmo D Studios |
 | Heaven Does Not Respond | $9.99 | 530 90% | 16k | $159k (exactly $158,841) | Rise Studios | |
 | Hymer 2000 | $4.99 | 1,031 89% | 31k | $154k (exactly $154,341) | doBell | |
 | Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing | $19.99 | 83 87% | 2.5k | $50k (exactly $49,775) | Active Fungus Studios | |
 | Rehaunted | $7.99 | 172 66% | 5.2k | $41k (exactly $41,228) | Cauchemar | |
 | Omen Exitio: Hunger | $9.99 | 117 88% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | Tiny Bull Studios | |
 | Mythos, Book One | $12.99 | 67 83% | 2.0k | $26k (exactly $26,110) | Nine of Swords Studios | |
 | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games | |
 | What Awaits, Aleksey? | $15.99 | 51 86% | 1.5k | $24k (exactly $24,465) | JKBC | |
 | Hank: Drowning On Dry Land | $2.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $13k (exactly $12,558) | My Next Games |
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.