Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Gothic
Should I ship a Gothic Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Gothic
Of 72 developers who shipped a Gothic 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.. 112 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 $1.3k, ×2.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×664 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 112 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,073) |
| Top 5% | $316k (exactly $315,624) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 176 |
| Announced | 112 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 4,544 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 112 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Amnesia: Rebirth | older | $29.99 | 7,894 77% | 237k | $7.1M (exactly $7,102,232) | Frictional Games |
| | Staffer Case: A Supernatural Mystery Adventure | older | $16.99 | 4,074 93% | 122k | $2.1M (exactly $2,076,518) | Team Tetrapod |
| | Mad Father | older | $9.99 | 6,229 97% | 187k | $1.9M (exactly $1,866,831) | sen |
| | Heretic + Hexen | $14.99 | 1,789 95% | 54k | $805k (exactly $804,513) | id Software, Nightdive Studios | |
| | The Baby In Yellow | · EA older | $8.99 | 2,340 96% | 70k | $631k (exactly $631,098) | Team Terrible |
| | Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition | older | $19.99 | 944 89% | 28k | $566k (exactly $566,117) | Phoenix Online Studios, Pinkerton Road… (Phoenix Online Studios, Pinkerton Road Studio) |
| | Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered | $24.99 | 641 96% | 19k | $481k (exactly $480,558) | Crystal Dynamics, PlayEveryWare | |
| | A Chair in a Room : Greenwater | older | $24.99 | 598 83% | 18k | $448k (exactly $448,321) | Wolf & Wood Interactive Ltd |
| | Lorelai | older | $8.99 | 1,447 90% | 43k | $390k (exactly $390,256) | Harvester Games |
| | Black Mirror I | older | $9.99 | 1,175 85% | 35k | $352k (exactly $352,148) | Future Games, Unknown Identity |
| | Necrophosis | $15.99 | 722 89% | 22k | $346k (exactly $346,343) | Dragonis Ares, Adonis Brosteanu | |
| | ASYLUM | $24.99 | 421 84% | 13k | $316k (exactly $315,624) | Senscape | |
| | The 7th Guest Remake | $19.99 | 241 86% | 7.2k | $145k (exactly $144,528) | Vertigo Games, Exkee | |
| | Tormentum II | $19.99 | 200 92% | 6.0k | $120k (exactly $119,940) | OhNoo Studio | |
| | Gloomy Eyes | $24.99 | 155 94% | 4.7k | $116k (exactly $116,204) | Atlas V, Be Revolution Gaming, 3Dar, Fi… (Atlas V, Be Revolution Gaming, 3Dar, Fishing Cactus, ARTE France) | |
| | Monster High™ Skulltimate Secrets™ | $39.99 | 82 71% | 2.5k | $98k (exactly $98,375) | Petoons Studio, Casual Brothers Ltd. | |
| | Dead Format | $16.99 | 161 81% | 4.8k | $82k (exactly $82,062) | Katanalevy | |
| | Riddlewood Manor | $14.99 | 132 93% | 4.0k | $59k (exactly $59,360) | Peanut Button |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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