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Should I ship a Physics Dynamic Narration game?
Physics + Dynamic Narration
Only 17 developers shipped a Physics Dynamic Narration game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, RATSHAKER™, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 35 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×430 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 5% | $270k (exactly $270,087) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Dynamic Narration
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Dynamic Narration; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Arcade
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, Pixel Graphics, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 3,378 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
RATSHAKER™ 2024 · $270k 
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm 2023 · $266k 
GlitchSPANKR 2025 · $165k 
Pro Show Jumping 2024 · $36k 
OVERVIEW (A Walk Through The Universe) 2018 · $34k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | RATSHAKER™ | $2.99 | 3,011 92% | 90k | $270k (exactly $270,087) | Sunscorched Studios | |
| | Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm | older | $29.99 | 296 73% | 8.9k | $266k (exactly $266,311) | Cornfox & Brothers Ltd. |
| | GlitchSPANKR | $19.99 | 275 96% | 8.3k | $165k (exactly $164,918) | Mahelyk, TheClassifiedX | |
| | Pro Show Jumping | older | $19.99 | 60 85% | 1.8k | $36k (exactly $35,982) | PSJ Studios |
| | OVERVIEW (A Walk Through The Universe) | older | $9.99 | 114 71% | 3.4k | $34k (exactly $34,166) | Orbital Views |
 | Cartonfall | older | $7.99 | 115 89% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,566) | kuklam studios |
 | Breath of Ghosts | older | $24.99 | 32 37% | 960 | $24k (exactly $23,990) | Piece Of Voxel |
 | Taskmaster VR | older | $14.99 | 50 54% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,485) | Scallywag Arcade |
 | VINE | older | $14.99 | 40 82% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,988) | FrogParty |
 | Depression The Game | older | $1.99 | 257 68% | 7.7k | $15k (exactly $15,343) | DeepWorks Studios |
 | Upstream | $7.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | Gllama Games | |
 | Who Dies First ? | $4.99 | 27 88% | 810 | $4.0k (exactly $4,042) | Stupid games | |
 | ORBITAL | $9.99 | 12 66% | 360 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Night Sky Dogs | |
 | A Tower's Will | $9.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Midnight Light Games, https://midnightl… (Midnight Light Games, https://midnightlightgames.com/) | |
 | Denbora | $19.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $2.4k (exactly $2,399) | Bionic Ape | |
 | debris | $9.99 | 6 16% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | Evar Space | |
 | The Kendama Challenge: 100 Players | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | WINGLAY | |
 | The Cascadier | · EA | $10.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.3k (exactly $1,319) | Enchanted Arcade |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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