Do I ship it?

GamesPoint & ClickPoint & Click + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Point & Click game?

Point & Click + Interactive Fiction

Of 408 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Point & Click 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.. 676 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×20 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $400k, ×3400 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 676 games are announced against 235 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 20.1 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 676 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Point & Click + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 408
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.4k → $4.6k → $3.2k → $2.8k → $3.2k → $2.2k → $1.7k (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Point & Click + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 408
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $2.4k (exactly $2,395)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,742)
Top 5% $405k (exactly $404,639)
Developers, 2 yr 408
Released games 1,224
Announced 676
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 flat on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Point & Click, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 63,973 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.4k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $400k.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 225 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 676 games are announced against 235 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Point & Click with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair50 devs · median $5.8k · 56 announced
  3. + Party-Based RPGFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  4. + Life SimFair162 devs · median $2.4k · 219 announced
  5. + Local MultiplayerFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  6. + MiningFair36 devs · median $1.9k · 39 announced
  7. + CookingFair68 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  8. + Escape RoomFair62 devs · median $1.8k · 51 announced
  9. + UnderwaterFair21 devs · median $1.8k · 20 announced
  10. + Local Co-OpFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpFair28 devs · median $1.7k · 34 announced
  12. + Word GameFair60 devs · median $1.6k · 56 announced

All 200 pairs on the Point & Click page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series older $49.99 36,594 96% 1.1M $55M (exactly $54,880,022) Skybound Games
The Henry Stickmin Collection older $14.99 55,826 98% 1.7M $25M (exactly $25,104,952) PuffballsUnited
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut older $17.99 31,885 96% 957k $17M (exactly $17,208,334) Black Tabby Games
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension older $12.99 24,144 97% 724k $9.4M (exactly $9,408,917) Draw Me A Pixel
Tiny Bunny $10.99 27,200 83% 816k $9.0M (exactly $8,967,840) Saikono, Sokar
Gorogoa older $14.99 19,172 97% 575k $8.6M (exactly $8,621,648) Buried Signal
Not For Broadcast older $24.99 10,337 94% 310k $7.7M (exactly $7,749,649) NotGames
Little Misfortune older $19.99 11,789 92% 354k $7.1M (exactly $7,069,863) Killmonday Games AB
Esoteric Ebb $24.99 8,719 95% 262k $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) Christoffer Bodegård
Unheard - Voices of Crime older $6.99 30,978 95% 929k $6.5M (exactly $6,496,087) NEXT Studios
The Roottrees are Dead $19.99 9,700 96% 291k $5.8M (exactly $5,817,090) Evil Trout Inc.
The Rise of the Golden Idol $19.99 3,786 92% 114k $2.3M (exactly $2,270,464) Color Gray Games
Sovereign Tower $19.99 3,087 93% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) WILD WITS GAMES
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector $24.99 2,358 91% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) Jump Over The Age
The Mermaid Mask $19.99 2,776 99% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,664,767) SFB Games
Cabernet $19.99 2,025 94% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) Party for Introverts
Desktop Explorer $17.99 2,077 96% 62k $1.1M (exactly $1,120,957) Recurring Dream
Forbidden Solitaire $15.99 2,245 96% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment)

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