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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Management game?
Management + Interactive Fiction
Of 77 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Management 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.. 164 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1205 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 164 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,985) |
| Top 5% | $757k (exactly $757,042) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 77 |
| Released games | 200 |
| Announced | 164 |
| 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 170% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- 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
- Management, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 17,523 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 164 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Not For Broadcast 2022 · $7.7M 
Summer Clover 2024 · $4.9M 
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · $4.9M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Tavern Keeper 🍻 2025 · EA · $4.1M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Not For Broadcast | older | $24.99 | 10,337 94% | 310k | $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) | NotGames |
| | Summer Clover | older | $17.99 | 9,062 97% | 272k | $4.9M (exactly $4,890,761) | Connection |
| | The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante | older | $19.99 | 8,151 89% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,888,155) | Sever, Schisma Games |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
 | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
 | Sovereign Tower | $19.99 | 3,087 93% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | 风信楼 | older | $11.99 | 3,423 94% | 103k | $1.2M (exactly $1,231,253) | Pingfang Games |
 | Happiness Double Room | older | $12.99 | 2,878 90% | 86k | $1.1M (exactly $1,121,557) | Connection |
 | Politics The Game | $9.99 | 2,526 95% | 76k | $757k (exactly $757,042) | Simplicity Games | |
 | Corruption Town | · EA | $14.99 | 992 88% | 30k | $446k (exactly $446,102) | BoredBasmati |
 | Wax Heads | $14.99 | 508 96% | 15k | $228k (exactly $228,448) | Patattie Games | |
 | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
 | Kurage Life | $10.99 | 588 90% | 18k | $194k (exactly $193,864) | TAIL-AKI | |
 | Dead Reckoning: The Long Drift | · EA | $14.99 | 174 83% | 5.2k | $78k (exactly $78,248) | Garan Lorn |
 | Terraformental | · EA | $5.99 | 365 97% | 11k | $66k (exactly $65,590) | Shady Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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