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Should I ship a Detective Typing game?
Typing + Detective
Of 24 developers who shipped a Detective Typing 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.. 31 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×6.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $850. Revenue is up 580% on the market; 31 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $848 (exactly $848) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,783) |
| Top 5% | $154k (exactly $154,341) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 580% on the market, supply 280% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Typing; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Immersive Sim, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,844 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $850. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Typing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CombatFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + HackingFair
- + TacticalFair
- + ModernFair
- + Procedural GenerationFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hacknet | older | $9.99 | 16,910 93% | 507k | $5.1M (exactly $5,067,927) | Team Fractal Alligator |
| | Her Story | older | $9.99 | 8,367 89% | 251k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,590) | Sam Barlow |
| | Grey Hack | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,801 90% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) | Loading Home |
| | CaseCracker | older | $9.99 | 3,314 89% | 99k | $993k (exactly $993,206) | BlackRobe |
| | Hacker Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,230 74% | 37k | $922k (exactly $922,131) | Save All Studio |
| | HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator | $16.99 | 937 88% | 28k | $478k (exactly $477,589) | HotBunny | |
| | Anonymous Hacker Simulator | older | $19.99 | 741 85% | 22k | $444k (exactly $444,378) | Sicarius |
| | The Crimson Diamond | older | $14.99 | 653 96% | 20k | $294k (exactly $293,654) | Julia Minamata |
| | CaseCracker2 | older | $11.99 | 759 90% | 23k | $273k (exactly $273,012) | BlackRobe |
| | Turlock Holmes | older | $9.99 | 897 80% | 27k | $269k (exactly $268,831) | Find the Lamp Games |
| | Hymer 2000 | $4.99 | 1,031 89% | 31k | $154k (exactly $154,341) | doBell | |
| | CaseCracker3 | $12.99 | 359 84% | 11k | $140k (exactly $139,902) | BlackRobe | |
| | 探岛海龟汤 | $9.99 | 110 71% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,967) | 探岛工作室 | |
| | Cyber Warrior | $19.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Dunke Games | |
| | Gumshoe Detective Agency: The First Case | $9.99 | 56 73% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $16,783) | Birdy Interactive | |
| | [Redacted] The Safehouse | $3.99 | 137 99% | 4.1k | $16k (exactly $16,399) | Heartbeast | |
| | Detective Worden | $4.99 | 54 85% | 1.6k | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) | Domestic Black Cat | |
| | Locktale | $7.99 | 30 83% | 900 | $7.2k (exactly $7,191) | Mina Pêcheux | |
| | Idiom Royale | $1.99 | 91 63% | 2.7k | $5.4k (exactly $5,433) | NyxWorks |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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