Do I ship it?

Games › Tabletop › Tabletop + Interactive Fiction

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Tabletop game?

Tabletop + Interactive Fiction

Of 23 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction Tabletop 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.. 43 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.1k, ×34 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $1.7M, ×14855 the market median. Revenue is up 230% on the market; 43 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 34.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 230% on the market, 43 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tabletop + Interactive Fiction
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $7.8k → $1.3k → $839 → $231k → $1.7k → $1.5k (still earning) → $63k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tabletop + Interactive Fiction: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $538 (exactly $538)
Median $4.1k (exactly $4,075)
Top 25% $116k (exactly $115,702)
Top 5% $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 79
Announced 43
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 230% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tabletop
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
Interactive Fiction
effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Tabletop, Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Point & Click, RPG
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, Dialogue Heavy
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 13,866 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $4.1k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $1.7M.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tabletop with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + BuildingFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  2. + CRPGFair22 devs · median $1.9k · 26 announced
  3. + RTSFair25 devs · median $1.9k · 33 announced
  4. + MilitaryFair30 devs · median $1.4k · 20 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair57 devs · median $1.3k · 67 announced
  6. + DragonsFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 21 announced
  7. + MahjongFair26 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  8. + WargameFair50 devs · median $1.1k · 57 announced
  9. + SpaceFair29 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  10. + CapitalismFair35 devs · median $807 · 33 announced
  11. + HorrorFair50 devs · median $776 · 51 announced
  12. + Local Co-OpFair31 devs · median $748 · 33 announced

All 155 pairs on the Tabletop page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Esoteric Ebb 2026 · $6.5M Citizen Sleeper 2022 · $5.0M The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante 2021 · $4.9M Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector 2025 · $1.8M Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns 2026 · $666k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Esoteric Ebb $24.99 8,719 95% 262k $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) Christoffer Bodegård
Citizen Sleeper older $19.99 8,271 92% 248k $5.0M (exactly $4,960,119) Jump Over The Age
The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante older $19.99 8,151 89% 245k $4.9M (exactly $4,888,155) Sever, Schisma Games
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector $24.99 2,358 91% 71k $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) Jump Over The Age
Stripjong - Super Real Mahjong Venus Returns $29.99 740 80% 22k $666k (exactly $665,778) ILLUMINATION
HackHub - Ultimate Hacker Simulator $16.99 937 88% 28k $478k (exactly $477,589) HotBunny
Foretales older $19.99 779 87% 23k $467k (exactly $467,166) Alkemi
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest older $14.99 805 83% 24k $362k (exactly $362,008) Different Tales
The Test: Final Revelation older $1.99 5,286 97% 159k $316k (exactly $315,574) Randumb Studios
Fabled Lands older $18.99 523 79% 16k $298k (exactly $297,953) Prime Games
Crown Gambit $17.99 428 94% 13k $231k (exactly $230,992) WILD WITS GAMES
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle $16.99 227 86% 6.8k $116k (exactly $115,702) ジギタリス出版
Duskpunk $19.99 171 91% 5.1k $103k (exactly $102,549) Clockwork Bird, James Patton
Celestial Return $14.99 140 85% 4.2k $63k (exactly $62,958) Metaphor Games
Songs of Life $8.99 80 81% 2.4k $22k (exactly $21,576) DreamStep
Joy Malignant $8.99 66 100% 2.0k $18k (exactly $17,800) Petros Anastasiadis

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.