Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Interactive Fiction
Of 459 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Puzzle 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.. 800 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×16 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×2109 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 800 games are announced against 259 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,386) |
| Top 5% | $251k (exactly $251,011) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 459 |
| Released games | 1,324 |
| Announced | 800 |
| 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 up 25% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Puzzle, Interactive Fiction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 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 $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 44,333 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 258 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 800 games are announced against 259 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension 2020 · $9.4M 
Gorogoa 2017 · $8.6M 
Little Misfortune 2019 · $7.1M 
Unheard - Voices of Crime 2019 · $6.5M 
The Roottrees are Dead 2025 · $5.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension | older | $12.99 | 24,144 97% | 724k | $9.4M (exactly $9,408,917) | Draw Me A Pixel |
| | Gorogoa | older | $14.99 | 19,172 97% | 575k | $8.6M (exactly $8,621,648) | Buried Signal |
| | Little Misfortune | older | $19.99 | 11,789 92% | 354k | $7.1M (exactly $7,069,863) | Killmonday Games AB |
| | 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 Case of the Golden Idol | older | $17.99 | 9,794 97% | 294k | $5.3M (exactly $5,285,822) | Color Gray Games |
 | Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | older | $19.99 | 7,236 69% | 217k | $4.3M (exactly $4,339,429) | The Chinese Room |
 | Donut County | older | $12.99 | 11,038 91% | 331k | $4.3M (exactly $4,301,509) | Ben Esposito |
 | Killer Frequency | older | $24.99 | 5,131 93% | 154k | $3.8M (exactly $3,846,711) | Team17 |
 | Storyteller | older | $14.99 | 8,169 88% | 245k | $3.7M (exactly $3,673,599) | Daniel Benmergui |
 | The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall | $11.99 | 8,227 58% | 247k | $3.0M (exactly $2,959,252) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) | |
 | Mandate Of Heaven | $14.99 | 5,446 91% | 163k | $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) | 木焱工作室 | |
 | The Rise of the Golden Idol | $19.99 | 3,786 92% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,464) | Color Gray Games | |
 | The Mermaid Mask | $19.99 | 2,776 99% | 83k | $1.7M (exactly $1,664,767) | SFB Games | |
 | 月华辉映之刻 | $11.99 | 4,227 89% | 127k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,452) | 侠客狗工作室 | |
 | Love is All Around 2 | $9.99 | 3,749 83% | 112k | $1.1M (exactly $1,123,575) | intiny | |
 | Desktop Explorer | $17.99 | 2,077 96% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,120,957) | Recurring Dream | |
 | Kindergarten 3 | $19.99 | 1,774 94% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,063,868) | Con Man Games, Sean Young | |
 | Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping | $9.99 | 2,571 96% | 77k | $771k (exactly $770,529) | Happy Broccoli Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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