Games › Dynamic Narration › Dynamic Narration + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Dynamic Narration game?
Dynamic Narration + Mystery
Of 59 developers who shipped a Mystery Dynamic Narration 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.. 164 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $990, ×2.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×569 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 164 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $358 (exactly $358) |
|---|---|
| Median | $989 (exactly $989) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,688) |
| Top 5% | $270k (exactly $270,087) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 163 |
| Announced | 164 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 125% on the market, supply 55% 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
- Mystery
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 20,294 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 164 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dynamic Narration with a different setting or mood, 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
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019 · $32M 
Heavy Rain 2020 · $16M 
Drova - Forsaken Kin 2024 · $7.1M 
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage 2025 · $7.0M 
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes 2021 · $6.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy | older | $29.99 | 35,628 97% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,054,512) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Heavy Rain | older | $19.99 | 26,503 85% | 795k | $16M (exactly $15,893,849) | Quantic Dream |
| | Drova - Forsaken Kin | $24.99 | 9,455 93% | 284k | $7.1M (exactly $7,088,414) | Just2D | |
| | Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | $39.99 | 5,873 86% | 176k | $7.0M (exactly $7,045,838) | DON'T NOD | |
| | The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes | older | $29.99 | 7,360 89% | 221k | $6.6M (exactly $6,621,792) | Supermassive Games |
 | BURIED STARS | older | $39.99 | 2,117 83% | 64k | $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) | LINE Games Corporation |
 | Martha Is Dead | older | $29.99 | 2,700 78% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,429,190) | LKA |
 | The Town of Light | older | $18.99 | 2,052 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,024) | LKA |
 | Event[0] | older | $19.99 | 1,449 79% | 43k | $869k (exactly $868,965) | Ocelot Society |
 | Omensight: Definitive Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,174 88% | 35k | $704k (exactly $704,048) | Spearhead Games |
 | RATSHAKER™ | $2.99 | 3,011 92% | 90k | $270k (exactly $270,087) | Sunscorched Studios | |
 | TR-49 | $6.99 | 1,197 94% | 36k | $251k (exactly $251,011) | inkle Ltd | |
 | The Floor Above | $12.99 | 217 88% | 6.5k | $85k (exactly $84,565) | Swytapp Games | |
 | Inspector Schmidt - The Ebbing | $19.99 | 83 87% | 2.5k | $50k (exactly $49,775) | Active Fungus Studios | |
 | Do Not Press The Button (Or You'll Delete The Multiverse) | $13.99 | 100 69% | 3.0k | $42k (exactly $41,970) | Theseus Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | Sudoku Mansion | $14.99 | 69 98% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,029) | Vault Door Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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