Games › Tactical RPG › Tactical RPG + Detective
Should I ship a Detective Tactical RPG?
Tactical RPG + Detective
Only 13 developers shipped a Detective Tactical RPG 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, VARLET, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×8.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
Only 2 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $300 against a market of $630. 17 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $60 (exactly $60) |
|---|---|
| Median | $299 (exactly $299) |
| Top 25% | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) |
| Top 5% | $218k (exactly $217,764) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 31 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 80% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Tactical RPG
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Detective
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Tactical RPG; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Exploration, Investigation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 64% positive over 279 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 2 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Tactical RPG with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + Space SimFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + Colony SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + WarPoor odds
Comparable games
VARLET 2025 · $218k 
Slaughter Horse 2 2022 · EA · $71k 
Neon Blood 2024 · $39k 
Prison Life 2 2023 · $28k 
Prison Notes 2025 · $11k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | VARLET | $59.99 | 121 47% | 3.6k | $218k (exactly $217,764) | FURYU CORPORATION | |
| | Slaughter Horse 2 | · EA older | $5.99 | 395 96% | 12k | $71k (exactly $70,982) | Catfood McFly |
| | Neon Blood | $17.99 | 73 60% | 2.2k | $39k (exactly $39,398) | ChaoticBrain Studios | |
| | Prison Life 2 | older | $4.99 | 188 77% | 5.6k | $28k (exactly $28,144) | AO Games |
| | Prison Notes | $9.99 | 38 94% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,389) | 闻岚工坊（Vinland Studio） | |
 | New Citizen - Alpha | · EA older | $24.99 | 14 28% | 420 | $10k (exactly $10,496) | Specpixel Entertainment |
 | Augmented Empire | $7.99 | 25 88% | 750 | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) | Coatsink | |
 | Overtime Heroes Exit 8 | older | $4.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Robot |
 | Masonic Mysteries: Secrets Unveiled | older | $9.99 | 12 50% | 360 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Play Games Ltd |
 | Banbard | older | $19.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $3.0k (exactly $2,998) | Hoboayoyo, Team Banbard |
 | Catolonizer | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | Alin Games |
 | Queen Naeja's Desires | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | SongGame | |
 | Paranormal Home Invaders | $4.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Jaxon Cole | |
 | Persuasion RPG | · EA | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Dementia5 Games |
 | Warrior's Dilemma | $0.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $148 (exactly $148) | Happy Hippocampus | |
 | Ambasu | · EA | $1.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $60 (exactly $60) | Ekofi Gaming |
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.