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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Political Sim?
Political Sim + Interactive Fiction
Of 27 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Political Sim 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.. 77 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $750k, ×1594 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 77 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $598 (exactly $598) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) |
| Top 5% | $757k (exactly $757,042) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 77 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 10% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Political Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Political Sim, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Choose Your Own Adventure, Simulation, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 4,146 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. All of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Political Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DetectiveFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Board GameFair
- + TabletopFair
- + CombatPoor odds
- + Sci-fiPoor odds
- + FuturisticPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
- + Cold WarPoor odds
- + BuildingPoor odds
Comparable games
Not For Broadcast 2022 · $7.7M 
Suzerain 2020 · $6.3M 
Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You 2016 · $2.7M 
The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian 2026 · $1.0M 
Politics The Game 2025 · $757k | 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 |
| | Suzerain | older | $19.99 | 10,574 92% | 317k | $6.3M (exactly $6,341,228) | Torpor Games |
| | Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You | older | $9.99 | 8,936 90% | 268k | $2.7M (exactly $2,678,119) | Osmotic Studios |
| | The Life and Suffering of Prince Jerian | $24.99 | 1,356 74% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,016,593) | Schisma Games | |
| | Politics The Game | $9.99 | 2,526 95% | 76k | $757k (exactly $757,042) | Simplicity Games | |
 | Orwell: Ignorance is Strength | older | $9.99 | 1,506 77% | 45k | $451k (exactly $451,348) | Osmotic Studios |
 | King Of The Castle | older | $9.99 | 1,403 90% | 42k | $420k (exactly $420,479) | Tributary Games |
 | Headliner: NoviNews | older | $13.99 | 767 88% | 23k | $322k (exactly $321,910) | Unbound Creations |
 | Not Tonight 2 | older | $19.99 | 465 76% | 14k | $279k (exactly $278,860) | PanicBarn |
 | 7 Grand Steps: What Ancients Begat | older | $19.99 | 301 61% | 9.0k | $181k (exactly $180,510) | Mousechief |
 | Lunar Ascendant | $14.99 | 86 44% | 2.6k | $39k (exactly $38,674) | Darts Games | |
 | Marry a Deep One: Innsmouth Simulator | $17.99 | 32 50% | 960 | $17k (exactly $17,270) | simulinati | |
 | Ministry of Truth: False Memory | $6.99 | 69 85% | 2.1k | $14k (exactly $14,469) | IKKOSAMA, False Memory Dept. | |
 | Dystopicon | $7.99 | 24 87% | 720 | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) | Palitroque | |
 | The Three Kingdoms of Shadows: Xuzhou | $6.99 | 23 82% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,823) | 鹏砚 | |
 | Pitchforks and Daggers | $4.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) | Idan Sheinkman | |
 | Presidential Psychologist | $12.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.3k (exactly $2,338) | BRB Drama | |
 | The Newspapers of the day | $15.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.9k (exactly $1,919) | divingstudio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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