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Should I ship a Dog Visual Novel?
Visual Novel + Dogs
Of 23 developers who shipped a Dog Visual Novel 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.. 21 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 21 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $17,682) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $93,882) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 88 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 275% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
- Dogs
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 1,214 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Visual Novel with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + City BuilderStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + TrainsStrong odds
- + Souls-likeFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + JRPGFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
Comparable games
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 2023 · $5.8M 
Sakura Spirit 2014 · $1.5M 
Spice&Wolf VR2 2020 · $497k 
Sakura Angels 2015 · $448k 
Sunset Hills 2024 · $243k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective | older | $29.99 | 6,429 97% | 193k | $5.8M (exactly $5,784,171) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Sakura Spirit | older | $9.99 | 4,877 77% | 146k | $1.5M (exactly $1,461,637) | Winged Cloud |
| | Spice&Wolf VR2 | older | $24.99 | 663 96% | 20k | $497k (exactly $497,051) | SpicyTails |
| | Sakura Angels | older | $9.99 | 1,494 84% | 45k | $448k (exactly $447,752) | Winged Cloud |
| | Sunset Hills | older | $17.99 | 451 61% | 14k | $243k (exactly $243,405) | Cotton Game |
 | Furry Shades of Gay 2: A Shade Gayer | older | $9.99 | 738 96% | 22k | $221k (exactly $221,179) | Furlough Games |
 | Sex and the Furry Titty 2: Sins of the City | older | $9.99 | 708 91% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,188) | Furlough Games |
 | Furry Shades of Gay | older | $6.99 | 835 91% | 25k | $175k (exactly $175,100) | Furlough Games |
 | Milfylicious - Chapter I | $14.99 | 359 81% | 11k | $161k (exactly $161,442) | Maximus | |
 | The Heroes Around Me | older | $6.99 | 691 95% | 21k | $145k (exactly $144,903) | OKJOY |
 | Sushi Ben | $11.99 | 261 82% | 7.8k | $94k (exactly $93,882) | Big Brane Studios, Inc. | |
 | HOPELESS JUNCTION: cuppy dog barf girl and co. | $11.99 | 130 97% | 3.9k | $47k (exactly $46,761) | Nadia Nova | |
 | Puppergeist | $4.99 | 156 95% | 4.7k | $23k (exactly $23,353) | Serenity Forge | |
 | Anxiety Puppy | $4.99 | 154 95% | 4.6k | $23k (exactly $23,054) | 小狗工作室 | |
 | Bangkok Story: A Stray Dog | $9.99 | 59 100% | 1.8k | $18k (exactly $17,682) | Shameful Guys Development | |
 | SIGNAL: Uncharted Lands | $4.99 | 57 98% | 1.7k | $8.5k (exactly $8,533) | HmarkaTeam | |
 | Naughty Doug | $12.99 | 20 90% | 600 | $7.8k (exactly $7,794) | Heedless | |
 | Blood On The Thames | $14.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) | Team Firestorm | |
 | Wantama☆Life | $24.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $1.5k (exactly $1,499) | CyberStep, Inc. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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