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Should I ship an Incremental Interactive Fiction?
Incremental + Interactive Fiction
Of 160 developers who shipped an Incremental 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.. 144 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×12 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $360. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 144 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) |
| Top 5% | $114k (exactly $114,169) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 160 |
| Released games | 388 |
| Announced | 144 |
| 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 150% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Incremental
- effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Systems
- Incremental, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Simulation, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 8,819 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 86 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 144 games are announced against 96 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Incremental with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + OtomeStrong odds
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Dynamic NarrationFair
- + MiningFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Arena ShooterFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + UndergroundFair
- + LootFair
- + SupernaturalFair
Comparable games
Summer Clover 2024 · $4.9M 
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery 2021 · $1.9M 
Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate 2025 · $1.4M 
1 to 1 humanoid edible toys 2024 · $580k 
恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 2025 · $452k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Summer Clover | older | $17.99 | 9,062 97% | 272k | $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) | Connection |
| | Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery | older | $12.99 | 4,966 94% | 149k | $1.9M (exactly $1,935,250) | Silver Lining Studio |
| | Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate | $14.00 | 3,275 95% | 98k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) | Xso | |
| | 1 to 1 humanoid edible toys | older | $7.99 | 2,420 92% | 73k | $580k (exactly $580,074) | 汉谟拉比炒面, 我的屁是香哒 |
| | 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 | $9.99 | 1,508 96% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | 光循花火工作室 | |
 | 恋爱关系/Romance | older | $3.99 | 2,480 84% | 74k | $297k (exactly $296,856) | AFOG |
 | Growing Things Up - Season 1 | $12.99 | 707 91% | 21k | $276k (exactly $275,518) | King, BLANQ | |
 | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Female Anchor Next Door | $14.99 | 488 80% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,454) | 18cmSam, UVKen | |
 | 万词破 - 单词女友 | $14.99 | 448 89% | 13k | $201k (exactly $201,466) | 万词破学游组 | |
 | Hymer 2000 | $4.99 | 1,031 89% | 31k | $154k (exactly $154,341) | doBell | |
 | Only You | $6.99 | 719 94% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 忘雪社 | |
 | Earth Must Die | $15.99 | 238 85% | 7.1k | $114k (exactly $114,169) | Size Five Games | |
 | Summer For You | $9.99 | 253 67% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $75,824) | AniCore Team | |
 | Big Tiddy Goth Baddie🖤⛓️ | $14.99 | 152 76% | 4.6k | $68k (exactly $68,354) | BanzaiProject |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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