Do I ship it?

GamesTypingTyping + Detective

Specimen · observed

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.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 580% on the market, 31 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Typing + Detective
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $248k → $1.5k → $1.2k → $33k → $2.8k (still earning) → $848 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Typing + Detective: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
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.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Typing
effort 1 / 10 · high · keyboard input against a word list
Detective
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

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
Plate 4 · demand

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.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $850, median $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

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.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Typing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LGBTQ+Strong odds7 devs · median $7.2k · 7 announced
  2. + Dating SimFair10 devs · median $8.2k · 10 announced
  3. + Online Co-OpFair16 devs · median $5.0k · 12 announced
  4. + Female ProtagonistFair31 devs · median $4.0k · 24 announced
  5. + RogueliteFair29 devs · median $2.4k · 34 announced
  6. + CombatFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  7. + Psychological HorrorFair33 devs · median $1.8k · 42 announced
  8. + CollectathonFair11 devs · median $1.8k · 16 announced
  9. + HackingFair33 devs · median $1.2k · 44 announced
  10. + TacticalFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  11. + ModernFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 14 announced
  12. + Procedural GenerationFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced

All 68 pairs on the Typing page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

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.