Games › Strategy › Strategy + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Strategy game?
Strategy + Interactive Fiction
Of 187 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Strategy 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.. 312 more are announced, ×2.8 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 $360; 1 in 20 cleared $770k, ×1239 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 312 games are announced against 112 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $356 (exactly $356) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,709) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,765) |
| Top 5% | $778k (exactly $777,841) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 187 |
| Released games | 496 |
| Announced | 312 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 45% 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.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Interactive Fiction; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 81,380 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 98 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 312 games are announced against 112 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M 
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · $4.9M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Tavern Keeper 🍻 2025 · EA · $4.1M 
Yog-Sothoth’s Yard 2023 · $3.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
| | The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante | older | $19.99 | 8,151 89% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,888,155) | Sever, Schisma Games |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Tavern Keeper 🍻 | · EA | $29.99 | 4,563 94% | 137k | $4.1M (exactly $4,105,331) | Greenheart Games 💚 |
| | Yog-Sothoth’s Yard | older | $10.99 | 10,207 93% | 306k | $3.4M (exactly $3,365,248) | Bone Nail |
 | Death and Taxes | older | $12.99 | 7,855 86% | 236k | $3.1M (exactly $3,061,094) | Placeholder Gameworks |
 | 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 | |
 | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
 | Shao Song I | $14.99 | 2,671 81% | 80k | $1.2M (exactly $1,201,149) | 互动之星, 猫眼娱乐 | |
 | 美女，请别影响我成仙 | $10.99 | 3,140 93% | 94k | $1.0M (exactly $1,035,258) | 蒸汽满满工作室 | |
 | Rebooted Fate | $14.99 | 1,846 95% | 55k | $830k (exactly $830,146) | Jilin miaomiao, 山与海工作室 | |
 | SubZero | $9.99 | 2,719 92% | 82k | $815k (exactly $814,884) | Joy Media Limited | |
 | Conquer the world | $12.99 | 1,996 92% | 60k | $778k (exactly $777,841) | 互动之星 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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