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Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Post-apocalyptic
Of 75 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 129 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $56k, ×90 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 129 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) |
| Top 25% | $6.7k (exactly $6,736) |
| Top 5% | $56k (exactly $56,437) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 75 |
| Released games | 215 |
| Announced | 129 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 115% more 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
- Post-apocalyptic
- 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Dating Sim
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,384 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series 2020 · $55M 
Noctuary 2023 · $2.1M 
Caravan SandWitch 2024 · $2.1M 
SubZero 2026 · $815k 
OPUS: Rocket of Whispers 2018 · $643k | 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 |
| | Noctuary | older | $29.99 | 2,371 94% | 71k | $2.1M (exactly $2,133,189) | Gratesca |
| | Caravan SandWitch | older | $24.99 | 2,797 88% | 84k | $2.1M (exactly $2,096,911) | Studio Plane Toast |
| | SubZero | $9.99 | 2,719 92% | 82k | $815k (exactly $814,884) | Joy Media Limited | |
| | OPUS: Rocket of Whispers | older | $14.99 | 1,430 92% | 43k | $643k (exactly $643,071) | SIGONO INC. |
 | S.H.E.L.T.E.R. - An Apocalyptic Tale | older | $17.99 | 777 88% | 23k | $419k (exactly $419,347) | Winterlook Games |
 | The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] | older | $14.99 | 685 87% | 21k | $308k (exactly $308,044) | Leonard Menchiari, Daniele Vicinanzo, G… (Leonard Menchiari, Daniele Vicinanzo, Giulio Perrone) |
 | Nocturnals | older | $7.99 | 905 86% | 27k | $217k (exactly $216,928) | Cowboy Toad Games |
 | Serum: Toxic Survival | · EA older | $24.99 | 253 45% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Game Island |
 | SLEEP AWAKE | $29.99 | 164 71% | 4.9k | $148k (exactly $147,551) | EYES OUT, LLC. | |
 | Survivor's Notes | $6.99 | 352 91% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,814) | MYSTERY CROWN, YESPLAY | |
 | Time Space Rebuild | $4.99 | 377 76% | 11k | $56k (exactly $56,437) | INNOVATION DREAM | |
 | Heavy Hearts | $14.99 | 98 70% | 2.9k | $44k (exactly $44,071) | Dammitbird | |
 | 60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room | $7.99 | 153 82% | 4.6k | $37k (exactly $36,674) | mc2games | |
 | PASSENGER x PRINCESS: NO HOPE // MUST DIE | $4.99 | 212 99% | 6.4k | $32k (exactly $31,736) | Lunaticker | |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project | $9.99 | 79 83% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | how to kill a fly [ H2KAF ] | $9.99 | 71 97% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $21,279) | Radtel Collective |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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