Games › Dynamic Narration › Dynamic Narration + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Dynamic Narration game?
Dynamic Narration + Psychological Horror
Of 53 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 100 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $84k, ×178 the market median. Revenue is up 1245% on the market; 100 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $8.2k (exactly $8,150) |
| Top 5% | $85k (exactly $84,565) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 140 |
| Announced | 100 |
| 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 1245% on the market, supply 20% 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
- Psychological Horror
- 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Choices Matter, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,403 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 29 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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
The Stanley Parable 2013 · $18M 
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes 2021 · $6.6M 
Martha Is Dead 2022 · $2.4M 
Observer: System Redux 2020 · $2.2M 
The Town of Light 2016 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Stanley Parable | older | $14.99 | 40,292 92% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,119,312) | Galactic Cafe |
| | The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes | older | $29.99 | 7,360 89% | 221k | $6.6M (exactly $6,621,792) | Supermassive Games |
| | Martha Is Dead | older | $29.99 | 2,700 78% | 81k | $2.4M (exactly $2,429,190) | LKA |
| | Observer: System Redux | older | $29.99 | 2,462 84% | 74k | $2.2M (exactly $2,215,061) | Bloober Team, Anshar Studios |
| | The Town of Light | older | $18.99 | 2,052 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,024) | LKA |
 | Lakeview Cabin Collection | older | $9.99 | 1,599 94% | 48k | $479k (exactly $479,220) | Roope Tamminen |
 | Heaven Does Not Respond | $9.99 | 530 90% | 16k | $159k (exactly $158,841) | Rise Studios | |
 | Anomalous Coffee Machine 2 | $6.99 | 753 81% | 23k | $158k (exactly $157,904) | HoruBrain Interactive | |
 | Athanasy | older | $9.99 | 486 97% | 15k | $146k (exactly $145,654) | Wirion |
 | The Bible | older | $4.99 | 965 87% | 29k | $144k (exactly $144,460) | Bible Games |
 | The Floor Above | $12.99 | 217 88% | 6.5k | $85k (exactly $84,565) | Swytapp Games | |
 | Throne of Monsters 怪物的王座 | $12.99 | 130 92% | 3.9k | $51k (exactly $50,661) | 雏形游戏 | |
 | Rehaunted | $7.99 | 172 66% | 5.2k | $41k (exactly $41,228) | Cauchemar | |
 | The Test: Reimagined | $9.99 | 134 82% | 4.0k | $40k (exactly $40,160) | Randumb Studios | |
 | The Killing Stone | · EA | $12.99 | 79 94% | 2.4k | $31k (exactly $30,786) | Question |
 | You’ve Got a Package | $4.99 | 188 77% | 5.6k | $28k (exactly $28,144) | REVVALUTION Studio | |
 | Endless Dark | $7.99 | 115 99% | 3.5k | $28k (exactly $27,566) | Little Light Studios, LLC | |
 | Backseat | $9.99 | 85 71% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | HOGO Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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