Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Detective
Should I ship a Detective Resource Management game?
Resource Management + Detective
Only 14 developers shipped a Detective Resource Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Airport X-Ray Simulator, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $98k, ×208 the market median. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,671) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,594) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 36 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 up 90% on the market, supply 265% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Resource Management
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Resource Management
- Price point
- $8.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 530 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Resource Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + WesternFair
- + SnowFair
- + JRPGFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + HorsesFair
- + Quick-Time EventsFair
Comparable games
Uncover the Smoking Gun 2024 · $248k 
Edge of Sanity 2024 · $116k 
Airport X-Ray Simulator 2024 · EA · $99k 
Sunshine Shuffle 2023 · $47k 
LAN Party Adventures 2025 · $42k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Uncover the Smoking Gun | older | $19.99 | 414 96% | 12k | $248k (exactly $248,276) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
| | Edge of Sanity | older | $19.99 | 193 67% | 5.8k | $116k (exactly $115,742) | Vixa Games |
| | Airport X-Ray Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 253 80% | 7.6k | $99k (exactly $98,594) | Rainbow Lab |
| | Sunshine Shuffle | older | $9.99 | 156 76% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $46,753) | Strange Scaffold |
| | LAN Party Adventures | $14.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | LEAP Game Studios | |
 | Murderous Muses | older | $13.99 | 71 74% | 2.1k | $30k (exactly $29,799) | D'Avekki Studios Ltd |
 | Tache Noire | $16.99 | 50 94% | 1.5k | $25k (exactly $25,485) | StitchedCliffs | |
 | GHOST at DAWN | older | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Blue and Red Games |
 | Coffee Noir - Business Detective Game | older | $8.99 | 72 65% | 2.2k | $19k (exactly $19,418) | DOJI, NAOS Software, Darkpowder |
 | Project Of Cooling The Earth | older | $4.99 | 120 72% | 3.6k | $18k (exactly $17,964) | 人鱼工作室 |
 | Animaly Bar: NO HUMANITY! | $4.99 | 98 90% | 2.9k | $15k (exactly $14,671) | Domnaier | |
 | Trailmarks | $8.99 | 12 91% | 360 | $3.2k (exactly $3,236) | Trailmarks HQ | |
 | Antidote to despair | $8.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) | Gamet | |
 | Claim Denied! | $7.99 | 4 25% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | SunsixStudios | |
 | Dark Investigation : Experiment | $4.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | TheLittleGames | |
 | Fix and Clerk | $4.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Soulten | |
 | Dark Manor | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | GearheadFoxGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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