Games › Word Game › Word Game + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Word Game?
Word Game + Horror
Of 46 developers who shipped a Horror Word 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×788 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 56 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,217) |
| Top 5% | $374k (exactly $374,172) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 118 |
| Announced | 56 |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- Word Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 15,619 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Word Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + TacticalFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventureFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + Procedural GenerationFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
Comparable games
Homicipher 2024 · $3.3M 
The Séance of Blake Manor 2025 · $2.2M 
Our End of the World 2017 · $1.3M 
恋爱绮谭 不存在的真相 2022 · $768k 
The Chrono Jotter 2021 · $708k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Homicipher | $13.99 | 7,821 96% | 235k | $3.3M (exactly $3,282,474) | 八名木Games | |
| | The Séance of Blake Manor | $19.99 | 3,683 95% | 110k | $2.2M (exactly $2,208,695) | Spooky Doorway | |
| | Our End of the World | older | $9.99 | 4,453 79% | 134k | $1.3M (exactly $1,334,564) | 橘子班, 大好网 |
| | 恋爱绮谭 不存在的真相 | older | $13.99 | 1,831 93% | 55k | $768k (exactly $768,471) | Never Knows Best |
| | The Chrono Jotter | older | $11.99 | 1,968 94% | 59k | $708k (exactly $707,890) | Orca Layout |
 | Paper Bride | older | $7.99 | 2,030 91% | 61k | $487k (exactly $486,591) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | The Inn-Sanity | $7.99 | 1,561 96% | 47k | $374k (exactly $374,172) | Steppe Hare Studio | |
 | Blood Typers | $12.49 | 912 94% | 27k | $342k (exactly $341,726) | Outer Brain Studios | |
 | Paper Bride 2 Zangling Village | older | $9.99 | 1,010 91% | 30k | $303k (exactly $302,697) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | TOUQI | $4.99 | 462 89% | 14k | $69k (exactly $69,161) | 橙光游戏 | |
 | Paper Bride 7 Lethal Bond | $9.99 | 218 92% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $65,335) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | Rubbings | $9.99 | 183 87% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $54,845) | 午夜说书人 | |
 | 咒影 Curse of the Shadow | $3.99 | 285 81% | 8.6k | $34k (exactly $34,114) | 小青蛙妙妙制作组 | |
 | 久美子之死：昭和少女血色告白 | $8.99 | 125 88% | 3.8k | $34k (exactly $33,712) | LingVision Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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