Do I ship it?

Games › Exploration › Exploration + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Exploration game?

Exploration + Psychological

Of 656 developers who shipped a Psychological Exploration 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.. 1,123 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $72k, ×153 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 1,123 games are announced against 409 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 1,123 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Exploration + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 656
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.7k → $2.9k → $2.7k → $2.6k → $2.0k → $2.0k → $1.2k (still earning) → $809 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Exploration + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 656
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,433)
Top 25% $7.2k (exactly $7,188)
Top 5% $73k (exactly $72,851)
Developers, 2 yr 656
Released games 1,558
Announced 1,123
Effort 4 / 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 up 10% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Exploration
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Exploration; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Walking Simulator
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 130,728 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $7.1k, 1 in 20 over $72k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 343 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,123 games are announced against 409 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair22 devs · median $8.1k · 26 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair31 devs · median $6.7k · 42 announced
  3. + SpaceshipsFair22 devs · median $3.5k · 28 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair122 devs · median $2.2k · 109 announced
  5. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 24 announced
  6. + WuxiaPoor odds12 devs · median $192k · 35 announced
  7. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds23 devs · median $82k · 61 announced
  8. + Martial ArtsPoor odds25 devs · median $69k · 90 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds146 devs · median $58k · 354 announced
  10. + MMORPGPoor odds24 devs · median $52k · 213 announced
  11. + FMVPoor odds45 devs · median $27k · 76 announced
  12. + FarmingPoor odds41 devs · median $24k · 58 announced

All 258 pairs on the Exploration page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

SILENT HILL 2 2024 · $91M SILENT HILL f 2025 · $40M DREDGE 2023 · $36M The Stanley Parable 2013 · $18M Superliminal 2020 · $17M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SILENT HILL 2 $69.99 43,367 94% 1.3M $91M (exactly $91,057,690) Bloober Team SA
SILENT HILL f $69.99 19,061 80% 572k $40M (exactly $40,022,382) NeoBards Entertainment Ltd.
DREDGE older $24.99 47,624 95% 1.4M $36M (exactly $35,703,713) Black Salt Games
The Stanley Parable older $14.99 40,292 92% 1.2M $18M (exactly $18,119,312) Galactic Cafe
Superliminal older $19.99 28,428 94% 853k $17M (exactly $17,048,272) Pillow Castle
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Mouthwashing $12.99 34,353 95% 1.0M $13M (exactly $13,387,364) Wrong Organ
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley · EA older $11.99 36,603 96% 1.1M $13M (exactly $13,166,099) Kit9 Studio
Viewfinder older $24.99 11,901 94% 357k $8.9M (exactly $8,922,180) Sad Owl Studios
Antichamber older $19.99 13,656 95% 410k $8.2M (exactly $8,189,503) Alexander Bruce
KARMA: The Dark World $24.99 3,963 90% 119k $3.0M (exactly $2,971,061) POLLARD STUDIO LLC
Fears to Fathom® - Scratch Creek $7.99 7,141 75% 214k $1.7M (exactly $1,711,698) Rayll
Constance $19.99 2,822 82% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,692,353) Blue Backpack
Total Chaos $24.99 1,561 86% 47k $1.2M (exactly $1,170,282) Trigger Happy Interactive
Rue Valley $14.99 1,905 69% 57k $857k (exactly $856,678) Emotion Spark Studio
Luto $19.99 1,225 85% 37k $735k (exactly $734,632) Broken Bird Games

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