Do I ship it?

GamesEscape RoomEscape Room + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Escape Room game?

Escape Room + Female Protagonist

Only 18 developers shipped a Female-Led Escape Room 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, AI2U: With You 'Til The End, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $630. Revenue is up 680% on the market; 18 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 680% on the market, 18 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Escape Room + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $230k → $3.6k → $19k → $3.1k → $629 → $2.5k (still earning) → $38k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Escape Room + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,507)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,193)
Top 5% $932k (exactly $932,228)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 83
Announced 18
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 680% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Escape Room
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Escape Room; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 79% positive over 6,425 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $930k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Escape Room with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SimulationStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  2. + Online Co-OpFair31 devs · median $14k · 32 announced
  3. + Psychological HorrorFair78 devs · median $4.7k · 70 announced
  4. + Choices MatterFair18 devs · median $4.7k · 15 announced
  5. + SupernaturalFair24 devs · median $4.1k · 13 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair38 devs · median $2.7k · 25 announced
  7. + MysteryFair122 devs · median $2.7k · 108 announced
  8. + Visual NovelFair17 devs · median $2.7k · 15 announced
  9. + HorrorFair96 devs · median $2.4k · 80 announced
  10. + Multiple EndingsFair37 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  11. + AdventureFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  12. + ExplorationFair122 devs · median $2.2k · 109 announced

All 36 pairs on the Escape Room page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Agent A: A puzzle in disguise older $19.99 5,901 95% 177k $3.5M (exactly $3,538,830) Yak & Co
Broken Age older $14.99 4,622 83% 139k $2.1M (exactly $2,078,513) Double Fine Productions
Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes older $19.99 2,752 88% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,650,374) Daedalic Entertainment
Syberia older $12.99 3,919 89% 118k $1.5M (exactly $1,527,234) Microids
Syberia 3 older $14.99 3,231 51% 97k $1.5M (exactly $1,452,981) Microids
The Dark Eye: Memoria older $19.99 2,090 89% 63k $1.3M (exactly $1,253,373) Daedalic Entertainment
AI2U: With You 'Til The End $14.99 2,073 87% 62k $932k (exactly $932,228) AlterStaff Inc.
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout older $14.99 1,568 86% 47k $705k (exactly $705,130) Daedalic Entertainment
Syberia II older $12.99 1,700 87% 51k $662k (exactly $662,490) Microids
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey older $19.99 1,086 83% 33k $651k (exactly $651,274) Funcom
Scarlet Idol $7.99 2,586 66% 78k $620k (exactly $619,864) 山雨工作室
Parallel Experiment $9.99 702 84% 21k $210k (exactly $210,389) Eleven Puzzles
We Escaped a Twisted Game $4.99 792 94% 24k $119k (exactly $118,562) Deluded Games
Alice and the Devil's Prison $13.99 91 83% 2.7k $38k (exactly $38,193) Tsukki's Tea Party
Psycho Fear $9.99 47 68% 1.4k $14k (exactly $14,086) Dark Panda
Luna's Room $4.99 70 100% 2.1k $10k (exactly $10,479) DonutDroid
Stuck in the Present $6.99 13 69% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Dusk Wave Arts LLC
MERROR $1.99 42 97% 1.3k $2.5k (exactly $2,507) TAMAGOSHA
Girl Abducted $7.99 9 88% 270 $2.2k (exactly $2,157) Renderready, LLC

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.