Games › Fishing › Fishing + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Fishing game?
Fishing + Psychological Horror
Only 13 developers shipped a Psychological-Horror Fishing 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, How to Fish, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.3k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.8k; 1 in 20 cleared $13M, ×29098 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 26 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $1.7k (exactly $1,731) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.3k (exactly $5,267) |
| Top 25% | $79k (exactly $79,388) |
| Top 5% | $14M (exactly $13,821,342) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 26 |
| 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 down 30% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Fishing
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Fishing; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Co-op
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Surreal
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 62,708 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.8k. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Fishing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingFair
- + AutomationFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + EconomyPoor odds
- + CapitalismPoor odds
- + AgriculturePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | DREDGE | older | $24.99 | 47,624 95% | 1.4M | $36M (exactly $35,703,713) | Black Salt Games |
| | How to Fish | $7.99 | 57,661 95% | 1.7M | $14M (exactly $13,821,342) | Dazed Games | |
| | Cat Goes Fishing | older | $6.99 | 15,431 94% | 463k | $3.2M (exactly $3,235,881) | Cat5Games |
| | Fisher Online | older | $13.99 | 4,199 81% | 126k | $1.8M (exactly $1,762,320) | R-Age LLC |
| | Cryptmaster | older | $24.99 | 1,671 94% | 50k | $1.3M (exactly $1,252,749) | Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games |
| | Fears to Fathom - Woodbury Getaway | older | $9.99 | 3,470 86% | 104k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,959) | Rayll Studios |
| | UMIGARI | ウミガリ | $12.99 | 1,029 82% | 31k | $401k (exactly $401,001) | Chilla's Art | |
| | Lakeview Valley | older | $14.99 | 710 82% | 21k | $319k (exactly $319,287) | Roope Tamminen |
| | FISH | · EA | $9.99 | 583 94% | 17k | $175k (exactly $174,725) | dmcaguy |
| | Manny's | older | $7.99 | 671 91% | 20k | $161k (exactly $160,839) | Bonemeal Productions |
| | Скуф на рыбалке | $0.99 | 2,673 93% | 80k | $79k (exactly $79,388) | KickedMesh | |
| | Loan Shark | $3.99 | 635 84% | 19k | $76k (exactly $76,010) | Studio Ortica | |
| | Whistling Waters | $9.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | Luna Apps | |
| | Undesired Catch | $3.99 | 44 86% | 1.3k | $5.3k (exactly $5,267) | Ferran Costa Casanova | |
| | Unto the Aurora | $4.99 | 22 86% | 660 | $3.3k (exactly $3,293) | Arboreta Games | |
| | Public Fears - George's Farm | $4.99 | 14 42% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Winchester | |
| | Neptune Island | $1.99 | 29 68% | 870 | $1.7k (exactly $1,731) | B0GWALK Labs |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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