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Should I ship a Spelling Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Spelling
Only 8 developers shipped a Spelling Interactive Fiction in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Word Game World, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $18k, ×148 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $41k, ×345 the market median. Revenue is up 1210% on the market; 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) |
|---|---|
| Median | $18k (exactly $17,611) |
| Top 25% | $30k (exactly $29,970) |
| Top 5% | $41k (exactly $41,006) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 8 |
| Released games | 26 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 1 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Spelling
- effort 1 / 10 · high · effort 1 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction, Spelling
- Price point
- $7.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 1,310 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.9k. 12 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
你已经猜到结局了吗 2022 · $93k 
Writer's Rush 2024 · $72k 
Word Game World 2026 · $41k 
Pain Pain Go Away! 2026 · $30k 
The Angel's Devil Tail - One More Question 2 2026 · $21k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 你已经猜到结局了吗 | older | $7.99 | 388 92% | 12k | $93k (exactly $93,004) | 橘音 |
| | Writer's Rush | older | $5.99 | 402 74% | 12k | $72k (exactly $72,239) | Frogstorm |
| | Word Game World | $11.99 | 114 62% | 3.4k | $41k (exactly $41,006) | Team9 | |
| | Pain Pain Go Away! | $9.99 | 100 73% | 3.0k | $30k (exactly $29,970) | Lorebard | |
| | The Angel's Devil Tail - One More Question 2 | $9.99 | 70 91% | 2.1k | $21k (exactly $20,979) | 橘音 | |
 | Spiritual Bond ～Breaking the curse, Intertwining fates～ | $5.99 | 98 82% | 2.9k | $18k (exactly $17,611) | MONRA | |
 | Unwording | older | $4.99 | 66 75% | 2.0k | $9.9k (exactly $9,880) | Frostwood Interactive |
 | LA FORET DE PAGO : LA VENGEANCE DU DRAGON | older | $5.99 | 27 96% | 810 | $4.9k (exactly $4,852) | Futurtech |
 | Amazing Pyramids: Rebirth | older | $6.99 | 21 76% | 630 | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) | Oleg Sereda |
 | PAGO FOREST: DRAGON'S REVENGE | older | $5.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $4.3k (exactly $4,313) | Futurtech |
 | Drak(c)ula | $7.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) | Simen Sollihøgda | |
 | One More Question | $7.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | OrangeSounds | |
 | NO WAY OUT:Prison | $4.79 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,150) | Co's Studios | |
 | Typing Ritual | $3.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $359 (exactly $359) | Fridiculous |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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