Games › Gambling › Gambling + Puzzle
Should I ship a Gambling Puzzle game?
Gambling + Puzzle
Of 44 developers who shipped a Gambling Puzzle 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×6.0 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×1569 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,072) |
| Top 5% | $187k (exactly $186,770) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 95 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Gambling, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, PvP, Roguelike
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, First-Person, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 25,048 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Gambling with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Co-opFair
- + FPSFair
- + Life SimFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + MysteryFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Buckshot Roulette | older | $2.99 | 110,042 95% | 3.3M | $9.9M (exactly $9,870,767) | Mike Klubnika |
| | Nubby's Number Factory | $4.99 | 18,138 97% | 544k | $2.7M (exactly $2,715,259) | MogDogBlog Productions | |
| | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
| | Bogos Binted? | $5.49 | 1,134 91% | 34k | $187k (exactly $186,770) | underbadger | |
| | Roll | older | $4.99 | 407 91% | 12k | $61k (exactly $60,928) | Joseph Distler |
| | Mahjong Nagomi | older | $4.99 | 245 79% | 7.4k | $37k (exactly $36,676) | Zoo Corporation |
| | Bonesaw | $6.66 | 179 89% | 5.4k | $36k (exactly $35,764) | Blood Pact Studios | |
| | FINAL SPIN | older | $4.99 | 195 91% | 5.9k | $29k (exactly $29,192) | bati, loardjosef |
| | ColdRidge | $9.99 | 97 73% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Frog Collective | |
| | Spider Roulette | $4.99 | 143 91% | 4.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | Kud | |
| | Boo! Are you scared? The Chests Game | $2.99 | 225 93% | 6.8k | $20k (exactly $20,182) | Inanity Catchers Team | |
| | Only False | · EA | $5.99 | 82 92% | 2.5k | $15k (exactly $14,735) | Metavision Studio |
| | Chasing the Dawn / CTD | $8.99 | 54 98% | 1.6k | $15k (exactly $14,564) | Wave Games | |
| | ARSONATE | $2.99 | 158 87% | 4.7k | $14k (exactly $14,173) | Nash |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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