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Should I ship a Mythological Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Mythology
Of 35 developers who shipped a Mythological 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.. 78 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $800, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $760k, ×1211 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 78 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $802 (exactly $802) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,893) |
| Top 5% | $760k (exactly $760,339) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 142 |
| Announced | 78 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 23%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Mythology
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choose Your Own Adventure, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Hand-drawn, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 7,415 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
| | Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical | older | $29.99 | 2,570 92% | 77k | $2.3M (exactly $2,312,229) | Summerfall Studios |
| | Slaves of Rome | older | $24.99 | 1,924 73% | 58k | $1.4M (exactly $1,442,423) | Biggus Diccus Games |
| | Home Safety Hotline | older | $14.99 | 2,763 90% | 83k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,521) | Night Signal Entertainment |
| | 美女,请别影响我成仙 | $10.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $1.0M (exactly $1,035,258) | 蒸汽满满工作室 | |
| | SIFU Kidnapped! Adventure in the Women's Kingdom | $9.99 | 2,537 95% | 76k | $760k (exactly $760,339) | 次元边界 | |
| | One-Eyed Likho | $19.99 | 1,155 93% | 35k | $693k (exactly $692,654) | Morteshka | |
| | Cats and the Other Lives | older | $19.99 | 1,089 91% | 33k | $653k (exactly $653,073) | Cultic Games |
| | Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind | older | $19.99 | 460 81% | 14k | $276k (exactly $275,862) | A Sharp |
| | Life Eater | older | $14.99 | 330 86% | 9.9k | $148k (exactly $148,401) | Strange Scaffold |
| | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
| | Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists | $24.99 | 76 78% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | A Sharp | |
| | The Allure Of Wanton Cove | $9.99 | 114 78% | 3.4k | $34k (exactly $34,166) | Ktulhu Solutions, Aftermath | |
| | Legends of Savvarah: Children of the Sun | $7.99 | 75 92% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $17,978) | ST Sinovar | |
| | Legends of Savvarah: Flowers and Scorpions | $5.99 | 94 95% | 2.8k | $17k (exactly $16,892) | ST Sinovar | |
| | XXX Pussy House | $6.99 | 66 71% | 2.0k | $14k (exactly $13,840) | Dreamers Workshop | |
| | Rainbow Sea | $14.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $9.9k (exactly $9,893) | paochanz |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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