Games › Economy › Economy + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Economy game?
Economy + Interactive Fiction
Of 21 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Economy 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.. 49 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×674 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 49 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,566) |
| Top 5% | $424k (exactly $423,580) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 49 |
| Announced | 49 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 95% on the market, supply 325% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Economy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Economy, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 5,749 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 5 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Economy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + ScienceFair
- + MiningFair
- + LootFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + God GameFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Strategy RPGFair
Comparable games
Tavern Keeper 🍻 2025 · EA · $4.1M 
BLACKWOOD 2026 · $424k 
Training Lucie 2023 · $97k 
Lights and Shadow 2025 · $65k 
The Advisor - Episode 1: Royal Pain 2021 · $54k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
| | BLACKWOOD | $24.99 | 565 46% | 17k | $424k (exactly $423,580) | AttritoM7 Productions | |
| | Training Lucie | older | $9.99 | 324 90% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $97,103) | SecretGame |
| | Lights and Shadow | $9.99 | 216 76% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $64,735) | Jiahe Studio 茄盒互动 | |
| | The Advisor - Episode 1: Royal Pain | older | $2.99 | 597 96% | 18k | $54k (exactly $53,551) | Randumb Studios |
 | The King's Dilemma: Chronicles | older | $14.99 | 102 70% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | Big Trouble |
 | CorpoNation: The Sorting Process | older | $12.99 | 117 71% | 3.5k | $46k (exactly $45,595) | Canteen |
 | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
 | Tidal Therapy | older | $8.99 | 132 93% | 4.0k | $36k (exactly $35,600) | veryOK |
 | Hazeron Starship | older | $19.99 | 55 70% | 1.7k | $33k (exactly $32,984) | Hazeron Freehold LLC |
 | Pocket Boss | $4.99 | 134 89% | 4.0k | $20k (exactly $20,060) | Langfilm, Mario von Rickenbach | |
 | Human Fast Food | $6.99 | 79 89% | 2.4k | $17k (exactly $16,566) | Bricchi Games | |
 | Sunset Game Shop Shayou | $9.99 | 41 90% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | Lobstudio | |
 | Clicker Complex: Vira’s Private Stream | $4.99 | 39 41% | 1.2k | $5.8k (exactly $5,838) | PrincessComplex Games | |
 | Airport Manager Simulator 2026 | · EA | $7.99 | 18 16% | 540 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | IORDER |
 | Checkpoint Inc | $4.27 | 8 75% | 240 | $1.0k (exactly $1,025) | Punchers |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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