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Should I ship an Underground Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Underground
Only 12 developers shipped an Underground 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, Techno Banter, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 23 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $60k, ×128 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 23 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,741) |
| Top 5% | $61k (exactly $60,986) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 12 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 23 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 up 80% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 21%, 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
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 89% positive over 232 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 23 games are announced against 7 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
Meg's Monster 2023 · $527k 
Techno Banter 2025 · $61k 
Fleshcult 2020 · $28k 
Slasher U: An 18+ Horror Movie Dating Sim, Act 1 2023 · $18k 
I live under your house. 2022 · $18k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Meg's Monster | older | $14.99 | 1,173 96% | 35k | $527k (exactly $527,498) | Odencat |
| | Techno Banter | $17.99 | 113 91% | 3.4k | $61k (exactly $60,986) | Dexai Arts, Crunching Koalas | |
| | Fleshcult | older | $4.99 | 190 79% | 5.7k | $28k (exactly $28,443) | Oneirolith |
| | Slasher U: An 18+ Horror Movie Dating Sim, Act 1 | older | $14.99 | 41 90% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $18,438) | Andi Santagata |
| | I live under your house. | older | $1.99 | 305 80% | 9.2k | $18k (exactly $18,208) | SpoocleMacBoogle |
 | DeMagnete VR | older | $19.99 | 22 81% | 660 | $13k (exactly $13,193) | BitCake Studio |
 | Thaw | $8.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) | paochanz | |
 | It Sleeps Below the Haar | older | $7.99 | 28 85% | 840 | $6.7k (exactly $6,712) | Arboreta Games |
 | VSCS-II | older | $9.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | Oliver Morrish |
 | You Can Save Everyone | older | $5.99 | 34 88% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | Caleb Draper |
 | Death Sees Twice: Spot the Difference | $2.99 | 64 81% | 1.9k | $5.7k (exactly $5,741) | hirohasu | |
 | The Land of Rest 1 | $8.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $4.9k (exactly $4,855) | 弓茶 | |
 | Vaulted Valor | $14.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Vast Games | |
 | Bael's Rock: A Text Adventure | $5.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $539 (exactly $539) | GameClicks | |
 | Fugue of Delights | $5.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $539 (exactly $539) | Enygmage | |
 | Chronos Experiment | $4.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Magnaro | |
 | Desecration | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Cozy Crow Studios | |
 | Temple of Egmelitia | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Ian Hornik |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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