Games › Survival › Survival + Interactive Fiction
Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Survival game?
Survival + Interactive Fiction
Of 72 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Survival 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.. 143 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $320; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×542 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 143 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $314 (exactly $314) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $20,551) |
| Top 5% | $340k (exactly $340,361) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 72 |
| Released games | 226 |
| Announced | 143 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Survival
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Multiple Endings, RPG, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $10.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cinematic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $10.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 74% positive over 19,040 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $320. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 143 games are announced against 48 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Hobo: Tough Life 2021 · $7.8M 
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall 2026 · $3.0M 
BURIED STARS 2021 · $2.5M 
Shelter 2 2015 · $2.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hobo: Tough Life | older | $29.99 | 8,679 84% | 260k | $7.8M (exactly $7,808,496) | Perun Creative |
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | 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) | |
| | BURIED STARS | older | $39.99 | 2,117 83% | 64k | $2.5M (exactly $2,539,765) | LINE Games Corporation |
| | Shelter 2 | older | $24.99 | 3,378 87% | 101k | $2.5M (exactly $2,532,487) | Might and Delight |
 | Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority- | · EA older | $16.99 | 4,122 97% | 124k | $2.1M (exactly $2,100,983) | Nankidai |
 | Wild West Legacy | older | $26.99 | 1,706 39% | 51k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,348) | Moon Punch Studio |
 | The Pale Beyond | older | $19.99 | 1,858 90% | 56k | $1.1M (exactly $1,114,243) | Saltstone Studios |
 | Murder House | older | $11.99 | 2,094 95% | 63k | $753k (exactly $753,212) | Puppet Combo |
 | Green Hell VR | older | $19.99 | 1,143 57% | 34k | $685k (exactly $685,457) | Incuvo |
 | 荒岛求生：逃出美女岛 | $9.99 | 1,161 93% | 35k | $348k (exactly $347,952) | 翱游科技AlbatrooGame, 荒岛互动娱乐 | |
 | Blood Money: Lethal Eden | $8.99 | 1,262 91% | 38k | $340k (exactly $340,361) | 碧火互娱 | |
 | Misty Judgment | $8.99 | 1,170 92% | 35k | $316k (exactly $315,549) | 次元边界 | |
 | Evil School | $7.99 | 1,058 92% | 32k | $254k (exactly $253,603) | CineGame Interactive | |
 | Inner Scales 1:Choice | $6.99 | 929 84% | 28k | $195k (exactly $194,811) | MYSTERY CROWN | |
 | 晨昏线 | $9.99 | 427 76% | 13k | $128k (exactly $127,972) | Enter Games | |
 | 1998: The Toll Keeper Story | $11.99 | 292 89% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,032) | GameChanger Studio | |
 | Survivor's Notes | $6.99 | 352 91% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,814) | MYSTERY CROWN, YESPLAY |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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