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Should I ship a Dynamic Narration Puzzle game?
Dynamic Narration + Puzzle
Of 76 developers who shipped a Dynamic Narration Puzzle 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.. 120 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×528 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 120 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $251,011) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 76 |
| Released games | 199 |
| Announced | 120 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 80% 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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Dynamic Narration, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Adventure, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 10,821 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019 · $32M 
The Stanley Parable 2013 · $18M 
while True: learn() 2019 · $2.9M 
Mandate Of Heaven 2025 · $2.4M 
Dude, Stop 2018 · $1.1M | 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. |
| | The Stanley Parable | older | $14.99 | 40,292 92% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,119,312) | Galactic Cafe |
| | while True: learn() | older | $12.99 | 7,350 91% | 221k | $2.9M (exactly $2,864,295) | Luden.io |
| | Mandate Of Heaven | $14.99 | 5,446 91% | 163k | $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) | 木焱工作室 | |
| | Dude, Stop | older | $14.99 | 2,507 88% | 75k | $1.1M (exactly $1,127,398) | Team HalfBeard |
 | Lakeview Cabin Collection | older | $9.99 | 1,599 94% | 48k | $479k (exactly $479,220) | Roope Tamminen |
 | The Message from Deep Space | $9.99 | 1,453 96% | 44k | $435k (exactly $435,464) | Applesinmypants | |
 | Lightmatter | older | $19.99 | 691 94% | 21k | $414k (exactly $414,393) | Tunnel Vision Games |
 | Eternal Threads | older | $19.99 | 543 87% | 16k | $326k (exactly $325,637) | Cosmonaut Studios |
 | Under The Island | $19.99 | 446 92% | 13k | $267k (exactly $267,466) | Slime King Games | |
 | TR-49 | $6.99 | 1,197 94% | 36k | $251k (exactly $251,011) | inkle Ltd | |
 | Heaven Does Not Respond | $9.99 | 530 90% | 16k | $159k (exactly $158,841) | Rise Studios | |
 | Hymer 2000 | $4.99 | 1,031 89% | 31k | $154k (exactly $154,341) | doBell | |
 | 5 NIGHTS AT SHALUN 4: SCHOOL | $1.99 | 535 93% | 16k | $32k (exactly $31,940) | Team GZ, VADIM CHURILOV | |
 | Sudoku Mansion | $14.99 | 69 98% | 2.1k | $31k (exactly $31,029) | Vault Door Studios | |
 | HAMSTERMIND | $12.99 | 73 97% | 2.2k | $28k (exactly $28,448) | Righteous Tree | |
 | Irreversible | · EA | $19.99 | 41 92% | 1.2k | $25k (exactly $24,588) | Delusional Reality Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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