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Should I ship an Idler Interactive Fiction?
Idler + Interactive Fiction
Of 44 developers who shipped an Idler Interactive Fiction 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.. 63 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×14 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $68k, ×574 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 63 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) |
| Top 25% | $5.9k (exactly $5,940) |
| Top 5% | $68k (exactly $68,354) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 144 |
| Announced | 63 |
| Effort | 1 / 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 up 80% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Systems
- Idler, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Incremental, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,072 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 63 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Idler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashFair
- + DrivingFair
- + LootFair
- + FPSFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + Dark FantasyFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + SwordplayFair
Comparable games
Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M 
Vanity Fair: The Pursuit 2024 · $842k 
Asbury Pines 2025 · EA · $217k 
My MILF Stepmom💋 2023 · $135k 
美女,应接不暇 2024 · $128k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
| | Vanity Fair: The Pursuit | older | $6.99 | 4,014 87% | 120k | $842k (exactly $841,736) | 木焱工作室 |
| | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
| | My MILF Stepmom💋 | older | $6.99 | 644 61% | 19k | $135k (exactly $135,047) | DuaWolf |
| | 美女,应接不暇 | older | $9.99 | 428 83% | 13k | $128k (exactly $128,272) | 筠悦游戏 |
 | A guard walks into a tavern | older | $7.99 | 415 83% | 12k | $99k (exactly $99,476) | SuQing |
 | Memory of Memorie : A Chill Story | $11.99 | 245 98% | 7.4k | $88k (exactly $88,126) | BeXide Inc. | |
 | 1997 | older | $9.99 | 231 92% | 6.9k | $69k (exactly $69,231) | Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Intera… (Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Interactive) |
 | Big Tiddy Goth Baddie🖤⛓️ | $14.99 | 152 76% | 4.6k | $68k (exactly $68,354) | BanzaiProject | |
 | Dragon Island | older | $15.99 | 113 49% | 3.4k | $54k (exactly $54,206) | Kulplant |
 | UncleOffice:uncle Dating Simulator | $15.99 | 92 61% | 2.8k | $44k (exactly $44,132) | GameUncle | |
 | Pornographer | $0.99 | 1,214 88% | 36k | $36k (exactly $36,056) | DT | |
 | The Count of Monte Clicker | $2.99 | 277 86% | 8.3k | $25k (exactly $24,847) | Adam Travers | |
 | Legends of Savvarah: Children of the Sun | $7.99 | 75 92% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $17,978) | ST Sinovar | |
 | Human Fast Food | $6.99 | 79 89% | 2.4k | $17k (exactly $16,566) | Bricchi Games | |
 | TEST RELEASE DO NOT BUY !!! | $1.99 | 132 93% | 4.0k | $7.9k (exactly $7,880) | Bad Ideas Productions | |
 | Your Stepmom | $0.99 | 248 73% | 7.4k | $7.4k (exactly $7,366) | smsmsm |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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