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Should I ship a Fantasy Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Fantasy
Of 330 developers who shipped a Fantasy Interactive Fiction 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.. 534 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 $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×425 the market median. Revenue is up 55% on the market; 534 games are announced against 197 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $598 (exactly $598) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,700) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,949) |
| Top 5% | $202k (exactly $202,106) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 330 |
| Released games | 1,081 |
| Announced | 534 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 55% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 46,995 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 204 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 534 games are announced against 197 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M 
Sora no Kiseki the 1st 2025 · $9.4M 
Pyre 2017 · $5.0M 
Coffee Talk 2020 · $4.4M 
Tavern Keeper 🍻 2025 · EA · $4.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Sora no Kiseki the 1st | $59.99 | 5,205 97% | 156k | $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438) | Nihon Falcom | |
| | Pyre | older | $19.99 | 8,396 90% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,035,081) | Supergiant Games |
| | Coffee Talk | older | $12.99 | 11,271 94% | 338k | $4.4M (exactly $4,392,309) | Toge Productions |
| | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | Storyteller | older | $14.99 | 8,169 88% | 245k | $3.7M (exactly $3,673,599) | Daniel Benmergui |
 | The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood | older | $17.99 | 5,606 93% | 168k | $3.0M (exactly $3,025,558) | Deconstructeam |
 | Hypnospace Outlaw | older | $19.99 | 4,824 96% | 145k | $2.9M (exactly $2,892,953) | Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs… (Tendershoot, Michael Lasch, ThatWhichIs Media) |
 | Bishojo Mangekyo Kotowari to Meikyu no Shojo | older | $29.99 | 2,718 95% | 82k | $2.4M (exactly $2,445,385) | ωstar, Seikei Production |
 | Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical | older | $29.99 | 2,570 92% | 77k | $2.3M (exactly $2,312,229) | Summerfall Studios |
 | Sovereign Tower | $19.99 | 3,087 93% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | Kaiju Princess 2 | $17.99 | 3,107 96% | 93k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) | PantyParrot | |
 | The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- | $57.99 | 765 77% | 23k | $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | The NOexistenceN of you AND me | $1.99 | 20,139 93% | 604k | $1.2M (exactly $1,202,298) | 0x0Real Studio | |
 | 灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 | $9.99 | 3,682 90% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) | 莓夜工作室 | |
 | 美女，请别影响我成仙 | $10.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $1.0M (exactly $1,035,258) | 蒸汽满满工作室 | |
 | The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian | $24.99 | 1,356 74% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,016,593) | Schisma Games | |
 | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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