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Should I ship a Steampunk Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Steampunk
Only 19 developers shipped a Steampunk 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, Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 33 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.7k, ×6.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $630k, ×1005 the market median. Revenue is up 610% on the market; 33 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,333) |
| Top 5% | $631k (exactly $631,042) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 33 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 610% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 5%, 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
- Steampunk
- 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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Dating Sim
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,201 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.1k. 9 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 33 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy | $39.99 | 526 90% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | Microids Studio Paris | |
| | 80 Days | older | $12.99 | 1,174 91% | 35k | $458k (exactly $457,508) | inkle Ltd, Cape Guy Ltd |
| | A House of Many Doors | older | $10.99 | 383 83% | 11k | $126k (exactly $126,275) | Pixel Trickery |
| | Erannorth Renaissance | $19.99 | 186 81% | 5.6k | $112k (exactly $111,544) | Spyridon Thalassinos | |
| | Duskpunk | $19.99 | 171 91% | 5.1k | $103k (exactly $102,549) | Clockwork Bird, James Patton | |
| | Verne: The Shape of Fantasy | older | $14.99 | 221 82% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $99,384) | Gametopia |
| | Tin Hearts | older | $19.99 | 75 85% | 2.3k | $45k (exactly $44,978) | Rogue Sun |
| | Bohemian Killing | older | $12.99 | 112 59% | 3.4k | $44k (exactly $43,646) | The Moonwalls |
| | A Study in Steampunk: Choice by Gaslight | older | $6.99 | 172 95% | 5.2k | $36k (exactly $36,068) | Hosted Games |
| | Lust Manor: Leona’s Secret | $9.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $27k (exactly $26,673) | Kinky Business Group | |
| | Lust Poker Club | $7.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | Cutie Booty | |
| | Scarlet Defiance: The Wall Between Us | $14.99 | 42 76% | 1.3k | $19k (exactly $18,887) | Vmmersion Studios | |
| | MAELSTROM LEGACY: The Tesla Mystery | $10.99 | 36 69% | 1.1k | $12k (exactly $11,869) | Wistfulware | |
| | Hermes Library | $15.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $8.2k (exactly $8,155) | SoaringHeart | |
| | Absurd Story: Back Home | $6.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $4.2k (exactly $4,194) | HcAndersen | |
| | BROKEN God Awakening | $4.99 | 25 76% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | lamb of game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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