Games › Dynamic Narration › Dynamic Narration + Investigation
Should I ship a Dynamic Narration Investigation game?
Dynamic Narration + Investigation
Of 28 developers who shipped a Dynamic Narration Investigation 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.. 75 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.4 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×528 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 75 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $25,474) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $251,011) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 86 |
| Announced | 75 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 60% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Dynamic Narration, Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Exploration
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Dark, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 3,781 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dynamic Narration with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SportsStrong odds
- + IncrementalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ModernFair
- + TacticalFair
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + RoguelikePoor odds
- + RoguelitePoor odds
- + Word GamePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + ManagementPoor odds
Comparable games
Heavy Rain 2020 · $16M 
while True: learn() 2019 · $2.9M 
BURIED STARS 2021 · $2.5M 
Observer: System Redux 2020 · $2.2M 
The Message from Deep Space 2026 · $435k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Heavy Rain | older | $19.99 | 26,503 85% | 795k | $16M (exactly $15,893,849) | Quantic Dream |
| | while True: learn() | older | $12.99 | 7,350 91% | 221k | $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) | Luden.io |
| | BURIED STARS | older | $39.99 | 2,117 83% | 64k | $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) | LINE Games Corporation |
| | Observer: System Redux | older | $29.99 | 2,462 84% | 74k | $2.2M (exactly $2,215,061) | Bloober Team, Anshar Studios |
| | The Message from Deep Space | $9.99 | 1,453 96% | 44k | $435k (exactly $435,464) | Applesinmypants | |
 | The Inquisitor | older | $39.99 | 277 66% | 8.3k | $332k (exactly $332,317) | The Dust S.A. |
 | Eternal Threads | older | $19.99 | 543 87% | 16k | $326k (exactly $325,637) | Cosmonaut Studios |
 | TR-49 | $6.99 | 1,197 94% | 36k | $251k (exactly $251,011) | inkle Ltd | |
 | Between Horizons – A Sci-Fi Detective Adventure | older | $15.99 | 395 88% | 12k | $189k (exactly $189,482) | DigiTales Interactive |
 | Heaven Does Not Respond | $9.99 | 530 90% | 16k | $159k (exactly $158,841) | Rise Studios | |
 | Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing | $19.99 | 83 87% | 2.5k | $50k (exactly $49,775) | Active Fungus Studios | |
 | Rehaunted | $7.99 | 172 66% | 5.2k | $41k (exactly $41,228) | Cauchemar | |
 | Omen Exitio: Hunger | $9.99 | 117 88% | 3.5k | $35k (exactly $35,065) | Tiny Bull Studios | |
 | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games | |
 | What Awaits, Aleksey? | $15.99 | 51 86% | 1.5k | $24k (exactly $24,465) | JKBC | |
 | The Builder - Season 1 | $12.99 | 47 55% | 1.4k | $18k (exactly $18,316) | Lewd Robotics | |
 | Ten Tek Desire | $4.99 | 46 80% | 1.4k | $6.9k (exactly $6,886) | Inspite , W-I-W |
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.