Games › Strategy RPG › Strategy RPG + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Strategy RPG?
Strategy RPG + Interactive Fiction
Of 46 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Strategy RPG 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.. 88 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×2948 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 88 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,427) |
| Top 25% | $63k (exactly $62,968) |
| Top 5% | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 46 |
| Released games | 115 |
| Announced | 88 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy RPG
- 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 RPG, Interactive Fiction; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, FMV, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 79,595 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 88 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SportsFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + EconomyFair
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair
- + ConspiracyFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
SCARLET NEXUS 2021 · $25M 
Revenge on gold diggers 2025 · $9.8M 
Suzerain 2020 · $6.3M 
Road to Empress Ⅱ 2026 · $4.2M 
Road to Empress I 2025 · $3.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SCARLET NEXUS | older | $59.99 | 13,749 81% | 412k | $25M (exactly $24,744,075) | BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc. |
| | Revenge on gold diggers | $6.99 | 46,610 80% | 1.4M | $9.8M (exactly $9,774,117) | 前方工作室 | |
| | Suzerain | older | $19.99 | 10,574 92% | 317k | $6.3M (exactly $6,341,228) | Torpor Games |
| | Road to Empress Ⅱ | $18.00 | 7,773 80% | 233k | $4.2M (exactly $4,197,420) | New One Studio | |
| | Road to Empress I | $8.49 | 11,829 86% | 355k | $3.0M (exactly $3,012,846) | New One Studio | |
 | Breakout 13 | older | $9.99 | 6,899 87% | 207k | $2.1M (exactly $2,067,630) | ALT Lab |
 | Sovereign Tower | $19.99 | 3,087 93% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | 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 | |
 | SubZero | $9.99 | 2,719 92% | 82k | $815k (exactly $814,884) | Joy Media Limited | |
 | 极速营救 | $9.99 | 1,860 86% | 56k | $557k (exactly $557,442) | 优映文化, 想象颗粒 | |
 | 恋爱吗？我家猫会后空翻 | $9.99 | 1,508 96% | 45k | $452k (exactly $451,948) | 光循花火工作室 | |
 | 我打不过漂亮的她们 | $10.99 | 1,111 95% | 33k | $366k (exactly $366,297) | 想象颗粒 | |
 | 晨昏线 | $9.99 | 427 76% | 13k | $128k (exactly $127,972) | Enter Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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