Do I ship it?

Games › Exploration › Exploration + Trivia

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Exploration Trivia game?

Exploration + Trivia

Of 25 developers who shipped an Exploration Trivia 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.. 19 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $270 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 19 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 80480% on the market, 19 announced, ×1.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Exploration + Trivia
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.8k → $1.1k → $600 → $1.4k → $9.0k → $1.9k → $150 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Exploration + Trivia: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $267 (exactly $267)
Top 25% $3.2k (exactly $3,236)
Top 5% $11k (exactly $11,377)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 83
Announced 19
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.00

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 155% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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
Trivia
effort 1 / 10 · high · question bank and scoring

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Exploration, Trivia; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Choices Matter
Price point
$6.00 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Stylized, 3D, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.00.

The top 10 games average 34% positive over 22,442 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $270, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $11k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Exploration with a different second tag, 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

BidKing 2026 · $2.0M Chinatown Detective Agency 2022 · $89k The Birth of an Artificial Intelligence 2021 · $57k Lianhai Casino 2022 · $22k Midnight Monitor: Aldercourt 2024 · $18k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BidKing $2.99 22,238 33% 667k $2.0M (exactly $1,994,749) MindSurge Network & Games
Chinatown Detective Agency older $24.99 119 70% 3.6k $89k (exactly $89,214) General Interactive Co.
The Birth of an Artificial Intelligence older $34.99 54 77% 1.6k $57k (exactly $56,684) 基本操作PlayClass
Lianhai Casino older $8.99 81 91% 2.4k $22k (exactly $21,846) 致意
Midnight Monitor: Aldercourt older $4.99 117 91% 3.5k $18k (exactly $17,515) Viexi Games
LiMiT's Escape Room Games older $3.99 104 66% 3.1k $12k (exactly $12,449) Marco Hirschfeld
LiMiT's Escape Room Games 2 older $11.99 34 94% 1.0k $12k (exactly $12,230) Marco Hirschfeld
Not Sure About That $4.99 76 98% 2.3k $11k (exactly $11,377) Scratch
The Time Machine $9.99 35 97% 1.1k $10k (exactly $10,490) Lionel Marsden
Fizz Quiz $14.99 20 50% 600 $9.0k (exactly $8,994) Moon
Concierge $12.99 22 100% 660 $8.6k (exactly $8,573) KODINO
CipherMind $7.99 18 77% 540 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) Pigeon Games
Trailmarks $8.99 12 91% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Trailmarks HQ
Snemovna · EA $7.99 8 100% 240 $1.9k (exactly $1,918) Richard Haraším
易经·占卜 $6.00 8 75% 240 $1.4k (exactly $1,440) 三页先生
In & Out $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) KASTEN

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