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Should I ship an Investigation Life Sim?
Life Sim + Investigation
Of 49 developers who shipped an Investigation Life Sim 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.. 95 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.1k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×369 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 95 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $713 (exactly $713) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.1k (exactly $5,090) |
| Top 25% | $44k (exactly $43,883) |
| Top 5% | $175k (exactly $175,112) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 49 |
| Released games | 99 |
| Announced | 95 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Investigation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 6,059 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Parcel Simulator 2025 · $1.5M 
Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M 
沉默的蟋蟀 2023 · $508k 
Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 2023 · $466k 
Hard Time III 2024 · $418k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Parcel Simulator | $17.99 | 2,804 93% | 84k | $1.5M (exactly $1,513,319) | Dansan Digital | |
| | Obenseuer | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,684 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) | Loiste Interactive |
| | 沉默的蟋蟀 | older | $14.99 | 1,130 88% | 34k | $508k (exactly $508,161) | 蓬莱飞鱼工作室 |
| | Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 | older | $14.99 | 1,036 68% | 31k | $466k (exactly $465,889) | Fictiorama Studios |
| | Hard Time III | older | $14.99 | 929 85% | 28k | $418k (exactly $417,771) | MDickie |
 | The Test: Final Revelation | older | $1.99 | 5,286 97% | 159k | $316k (exactly $315,574) | Randumb Studios |
 | Photomaly | $6.99 | 1,292 89% | 39k | $271k (exactly $270,932) | Revira Interactive | |
 | The Good Life | older | $29.99 | 198 74% | 5.9k | $178k (exactly $178,141) | White Owls Inc. |
 | On Your Tail | $19.99 | 292 87% | 8.8k | $175k (exactly $175,112) | Memorable Games | |
 | Repair this! | older | $6.99 | 786 88% | 24k | $165k (exactly $164,824) | HGISoft |
 | Sister Ray | $11.99 | 410 95% | 12k | $147k (exactly $147,477) | The Growing Stones | |
 | Vtuber Hack | $54.99 | 83 74% | 2.5k | $137k (exactly $136,925) | ベルゼブブ | |
 | Emergency Room Simulator | $24.99 | 154 43% | 4.6k | $115k (exactly $115,454) | Caipirinha Games | |
 | Shale Hill Secrets | $14.99 | 245 80% | 7.4k | $110k (exactly $110,176) | Love-Joint | |
 | 1998: The Toll Keeper Story | $11.99 | 292 89% | 8.8k | $105k (exactly $105,032) | GameChanger Studio | |
 | Airport X-Ray Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 253 80% | 7.6k | $99k (exactly $98,594) | Rainbow Lab |
 | Nothing To Declare | $9.99 | 234 76% | 7.0k | $70k (exactly $70,130) | Rogue Duck Interactive |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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