Do I ship it?

GamesWord GameWord Game + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Word Game?

Word Game + Futuristic

Only 15 developers shipped a Futuristic Word 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, Yixin, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 34 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $410 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 11 developers shipped in the last year and 34 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 95% on the market, 34 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Word Game + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 15
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.4k → $478 → $300 → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Word Game + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 15
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $360 (exactly $360)
Top 25% $6.7k (exactly $6,736)
Top 5% $8.4k (exactly $8,432)
Developers, 2 yr 15
Released games 55
Announced 34
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 95% on the market, supply 175% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 25%, 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.

Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
Futuristic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Word Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Dating Sim, Immersive Sim
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Emotional, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 71% positive over 328 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $6.7k, 1 in 20 over $8.4k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SurvivalFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  2. + TacticalFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  3. + Point & ClickFair60 devs · median $1.6k · 56 announced
  4. + LootFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 8 announced
  5. + AutomationFair12 devs · median $1.6k · 11 announced
  6. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair55 devs · median $1.4k · 65 announced
  7. + DetectiveFair82 devs · median $1.3k · 90 announced
  8. + Procedural GenerationFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair18 devs · median $1.2k · 16 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair29 devs · median $1.2k · 26 announced
  11. + IncrementalFair91 devs · median $1.2k · 77 announced
  12. + NatureFair12 devs · median $1.0k · 8 announced

All 98 pairs on the Word Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rail of Möbius older $12.99 359 93% 11k $140k (exactly $139,902) PHOSEPO
1bitHeart older $2.99 849 91% 25k $76k (exactly $76,155) △○□× (Miwashiba)
場外人生 · EA older $2.99 315 90% 9.5k $28k (exactly $28,256) YuruOwO
彗星战团 older $2.99 185 86% 5.6k $17k (exactly $16,594) 星火工造
Paperback Adventures · EA older $14.99 27 92% 810 $12k (exactly $12,142) Tim Fowers, Jeff Krause, Skye Larsen, A… (Tim Fowers, Jeff Krause, Skye Larsen, Alex Krause)
Plan B from Outer Space: A Bavarian Odyssey older $12.49 31 90% 930 $12k (exactly $11,616) RobotPumpkin Games
Yixin $2.99 94 73% 2.8k $8.4k (exactly $8,432) 神風教主 (Master Kamikaze)
No Alien Dating Allowed! $4.99 54 64% 1.6k $8.1k (exactly $8,084) Peach Fox Game
Earth Ten Days : 981Hz $6.99 35 82% 1.1k $7.3k (exactly $7,340) TinyBigger
Long Live the Catgirls! $4.99 45 71% 1.4k $6.7k (exactly $6,736) Cat Paw Game
RGB GlitchGazer $1.70 54 94% 1.6k $2.8k (exactly $2,754) 群星闪耀时
在一切晴朗的日子里|On all clear days $1.99 33 33% 990 $2.0k (exactly $1,970) 灵虚之幽
Lavender Dream $1.99 8 37% 240 $478 (exactly $478) Vorh Games
Typomon Hunter $11.99 1 0% 30 $360 (exactly $360) Esoteric Games
Talk to Me Human $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Least Significant Bit
Evolutionary Antinomy $1.99 3 100% 90 $179 (exactly $179) Tang Feng

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