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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Hack and Slash game?
Hack and Slash + Interactive Fiction
Only 9 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction Hack and Slash 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, KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom-, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 5 developers shipped in the last year and 22 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $300 (exactly $300) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,708) |
| Top 5% | $665k (exactly $664,829) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 28 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 115% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hack and Slash
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Hack and Slash, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $54.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 15,653 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 22 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hack and Slash with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Turn-BasedStrong odds
- + Turn-Based CombatStrong odds
- + VampiresFair
- + ModernFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + RomancePoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + DestructionPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
Comparable games
SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M 
KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- 2026 · $665k 
Evil School 2026 · $254k 
Serum: Toxic Survival 2024 · EA · $190k 
Slave Princess Finne, why did she sell out her own kingdom? 2023 · $44k | 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. |
| | KYOTO XANADU -the Blooming Phantom- | $54.99 | 403 78% | 12k | $665k (exactly $664,829) | Nihon Falcom | |
| | Evil School | $7.99 | 1,058 92% | 32k | $254k (exactly $253,603) | CineGame Interactive | |
| | Serum: Toxic Survival | · EA older | $24.99 | 253 45% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Game Island |
| | Slave Princess Finne, why did she sell out her own kingdom? | older | $17.99 | 82 87% | 2.5k | $44k (exactly $44,255) | Circle Fairy Flower |
 | Willow Guard | $15.99 | 39 89% | 1.2k | $19k (exactly $18,708) | MiTale | |
 | Dungeon Merchant | older | $4.99 | 37 59% | 1.1k | $5.5k (exactly $5,539) | Monster Shop Games |
 | Endless RPG: Random Map Generator for D&D 2024 and 5e | older | $1.99 | 23 82% | 690 | $1.4k (exactly $1,373) | Nations Software |
 | THE INDIE DEV | older | $3.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $838 (exactly $838) | Maxwell Software |
 | Berserker 2: The Saga of Hilde | $5.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $359 (exactly $359) | One Life Games | |
 | MAYBE I CAN | $9.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | NIGHTCREW | |
 | OKeverything with 3000 beauties 2 | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | XIOF FAN, S+TEAMBABA, XU TING | |
 | Dragon Fall | $6.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $210 (exactly $210) | lucas silva de oliveira | |
 | Dark Hollow RPG | $0.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $59 (exactly $59) | Conor-PotPie | |
 | Dragon Slayer and The Leaf Town | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | ENRYU |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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