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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Party-Based RPG?
Party-Based RPG + Interactive Fiction
Of 20 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Party-Based RPG 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×4.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $890; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2119 the market median. Revenue is up 1210% on the market; 41 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $888 (exactly $888) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $3,045) |
| Top 25% | $79k (exactly $78,521) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 58 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 1210% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Party-Based RPG
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Party-Based RPG, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Action RPG
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $59.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $59.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 9,124 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $890. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Party-Based RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Board GameFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Martial ArtsPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
- + AutomationPoor odds
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + Base BuildingPoor odds
- + IncrementalPoor odds
Comparable games
Sora no Kiseki the 1st 2025 · $9.4M 
Pyre 2017 · $5.0M 
The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki 2022 · $2.0M 
The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki Ⅱ -CRIMSON SiN- 2023 · $1.4M 
The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- 2025 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sora no Kiseki the 1st | $59.99 | 5,205 97% | 156k | $9.4M (exactly $9,367,438) | Nihon Falcom | |
| | Pyre | older | $19.99 | 8,396 90% | 252k | $5.0M (exactly $5,035,081) | Supergiant Games |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki | older | $49.99 | 1,316 91% | 39k | $2.0M (exactly $1,973,605) | Nihon Falcom |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Kuro no Kiseki Ⅱ -CRIMSON SiN- | older | $59.99 | 789 76% | 24k | $1.4M (exactly $1,419,963) | Nihon Falcom |
| | The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki -Farewell, O Zemuria- | $57.99 | 765 77% | 23k | $1.3M (exactly $1,330,870) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | FLAM EVAW | $9.99 | 1,378 95% | 41k | $413k (exactly $412,987) | 北京万合瑞晟文化传媒有限公司 | |
 | Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter | $59.99 | 171 97% | 5.1k | $308k (exactly $307,749) | Nihon Falcom | |
 | AI Roguelite | older | $14.99 | 597 83% | 18k | $268k (exactly $268,471) | Max Loh |
 | Loren The Amazon Princess | older | $19.99 | 436 83% | 13k | $261k (exactly $261,469) | Winter Wolves |
 | Athenian Rhapsody | older | $14.99 | 320 91% | 9.6k | $144k (exactly $143,904) | Nico Papalia |
 | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
 | Chained in the Backrooms | · EA | $2.99 | 933 68% | 28k | $84k (exactly $83,690) | Task+ Studios |
 | Heroines of Swords & Spells 2 | $9.99 | 262 93% | 7.9k | $79k (exactly $78,521) | Kirillkrm | |
 | Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall | · EA | $19.99 | 111 71% | 3.3k | $67k (exactly $66,567) | A Memory of Eternity |
 | Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists | $24.99 | 76 78% | 2.3k | $57k (exactly $56,977) | A Sharp | |
 | UltraGirl Alters | $19.99 | 37 64% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $22,189) | FutureInvention |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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