Do I ship it?

GamesInteractive FictionInteractive Fiction + Music

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Music Interactive Fiction?

Interactive Fiction + Music

Only 7 developers shipped a Music Interactive Fiction 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, I Write Games Not Tragedies, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.3k, ×4.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.0k; 1 in 20 cleared $18k, ×39 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.9 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 17 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Interactive Fiction + Music
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 7
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $81k → $1.3k → $9.7k → $1.9k → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Interactive Fiction + Music: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 7
Bottom 30% $1.9k (exactly $1,948)
Median $2.3k (exactly $2,338)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,194)
Top 5% $18k (exactly $18,316)
Developers, 2 yr 7
Released games 48
Announced 17
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $12.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 150% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
Music
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Interactive Fiction
Price point
$12.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

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 $29.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 45,969 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $2.0k, median $2.3k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $18k.

3 in 10 developers made under $2.0k. 17 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair164 devs · median $36k · 162 announced
  2. + Match 3Fair12 devs · median $4.8k · 7 announced
  3. + VampiresFair41 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  4. + SportsFair19 devs · median $1.5k · 19 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair160 devs · median $1.4k · 144 announced
  6. + PiratesFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 7 announced
  7. + DrivingFair12 devs · median $1.2k · 13 announced
  8. + DiplomacyFair12 devs · median $1.0k · 17 announced
  9. + Perma DeathFair27 devs · median $959 · 28 announced
  10. + Board GameFair9 devs · median $657 · 12 announced
  11. + SnowFair10 devs · median $478 · 12 announced
  12. + BuildingFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced

All 169 pairs on the Interactive Fiction page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Pyre older $19.99 8,396 90% 252k $5.0M (exactly $5,035,081) Supergiant Games
Donut County older $12.99 11,038 91% 331k $4.3M (exactly $4,301,509) Ben Esposito
Florence older $5.99 14,826 93% 445k $2.7M (exactly $2,664,232) Mountains
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical older $29.99 2,570 92% 77k $2.3M (exactly $2,312,229) Summerfall Studios
Goodbye Volcano High older $29.99 1,676 89% 50k $1.5M (exactly $1,507,897) KO_OP
The Artful Escape older $19.99 1,801 91% 54k $1.1M (exactly $1,080,060) Beethoven and Dinosaur
When The Past Was Around older $7.99 3,924 94% 118k $941k (exactly $940,583) Mojiken
The Longest Road on Earth older $9.99 562 77% 17k $168k (exactly $168,431) Brainwash Gang, TLR Games
A YEAR OF SPRINGS older $4.99 915 98% 27k $137k (exactly $136,976) npckc
Once Upon a Jester older $14.99 261 100% 7.8k $117k (exactly $117,372) Bonte Avond
I Write Games Not Tragedies $12.99 47 100% 1.4k $18k (exactly $18,316) Studio Wife
ARIE: Moonprayer $16.99 20 95% 600 $10k (exactly $10,194) PhantomWorks
The Dreamwalkers $8.99 21 85% 630 $5.7k (exactly $5,664) Nightbloomer Studio
1997 RELOADED $12.99 6 100% 180 $2.3k (exactly $2,338) Gaigo Studio
Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel $12.99 5 100% 150 $1.9k (exactly $1,948) Box of Black Spiders
Wrath of Mynah $4.99 4 100% 120 $599 (exactly $599) BluWind, sharkekei, mrwalrusthegiraffe,… (BluWind, sharkekei, mrwalrusthegiraffe, axi, OMI, CardCaph, Kacper Cieśluk, Janaeither, Javier89javi)
Little Chain Game $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Kevin Barrios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.