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Should I ship a Detective Escape Room game?
Escape Room + Detective
Of 34 developers who shipped a Detective Escape Room 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.. 28 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is flat on the market; 28 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,414) |
| Top 5% | $627k (exactly $626,749) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 144 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Escape Room
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 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
- Escape Room; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Investigation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,176 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Escape Room with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SimulationStrong odds
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + Choices MatterFair
- + SupernaturalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + MysteryFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + HorrorFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + AdventureFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | We Were Here Forever | older | $17.99 | 16,256 90% | 488k | $8.8M (exactly $8,773,363) | Total Mayhem Games |
| | Zero Escape: The Nonary Games | older | $29.99 | 7,007 92% | 210k | $6.3M (exactly $6,304,198) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
| | The House of Da Vinci | older | $19.99 | 6,710 85% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,023,987) | Blue Brain Games |
| | Agent A: A puzzle in disguise | older | $19.99 | 5,901 95% | 177k | $3.5M (exactly $3,538,830) | Yak & Co |
| | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
| | The Room Three | older | $5.99 | 12,997 95% | 390k | $2.3M (exactly $2,335,561) | Fireproof Games |
| | The Testament of Sherlock Holmes | older | $19.99 | 3,240 80% | 97k | $1.9M (exactly $1,943,028) | Frogwares |
| | The House of Da Vinci 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,051 90% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) | Blue Brain Games |
| | Cube Escape Collection | older | $4.99 | 7,636 97% | 229k | $1.1M (exactly $1,143,109) | Rusty Lake |
| | Down in Bermuda | older | $19.99 | 1,603 89% | 48k | $961k (exactly $961,319) | Yak & Co |
| | The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition | $24.99 | 836 72% | 25k | $627k (exactly $626,749) | Blue Brain Games | |
| | Parallel Experiment | $9.99 | 702 84% | 21k | $210k (exactly $210,389) | Eleven Puzzles | |
| | My Fav Chill Streamer Dies a Million Times|ゆるゆる生配信する推しは100万回死ぬ | $34.99 | 114 92% | 3.4k | $120k (exactly $119,666) | VELUX STUDIO | |
| | We Escaped a Twisted Game | $4.99 | 792 94% | 24k | $119k (exactly $118,562) | Deluded Games | |
| | Secrets of Blackrock Manor - Escape Room | $9.99 | 222 80% | 6.7k | $67k (exactly $66,533) | Biri Biri | |
| | Escape From Crimson Manor: Trapped Together | $12.99 | 78 69% | 2.3k | $30k (exactly $30,397) | MediaCity Games | |
| | Fixer Undercover | $17.99 | 34 91% | 1.0k | $18k (exactly $18,350) | Creativity AR | |
| | Escape from Mutation Station | $3.99 | 87 96% | 2.6k | $10k (exactly $10,414) | Jay Marksman | |
| | Advent: Dawn | $16.99 | 19 89% | 570 | $9.7k (exactly $9,684) | Spire Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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