Games › Investigation › Investigation + Mystery Dungeon
Should I ship an Investigation Mystery Dungeon?
Investigation + Mystery Dungeon
Of 31 developers who shipped an Investigation Mystery Dungeon 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.. 35 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $7.7k, ×16 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 35 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $358 (exactly $358) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 5% | $7.8k (exactly $7,780) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 83 |
| Announced | 35 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 down 75% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Mystery Dungeon; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 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 $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 232 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 35 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
The Classrooms 2022 · EA · $1.2M 
[Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 2021 · $65k 
Rooms of Realities 2023 · $29k 
Haunted Investigation 2023 · $25k 
EXIT - The Curse of Ophir 2022 · $19k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Classrooms | · EA older | $12.99 | 3,040 89% | 91k | $1.2M (exactly $1,184,688) | Xefier Games, Hillcrest Games Inc. |
| | [Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 | older | $4.99 | 431 80% | 13k | $65k (exactly $64,521) | Chilla's Art |
| | Rooms of Realities | older | $17.99 | 53 94% | 1.6k | $29k (exactly $28,604) | Bluekey |
| | Haunted Investigation | older | $3.99 | 206 83% | 6.2k | $25k (exactly $24,658) | Interactive Wave Studios |
| | EXIT - The Curse of Ophir | older | $7.99 | 78 84% | 2.3k | $19k (exactly $18,697) | Nementic Games |
 | EXIT The Game – Trial of the Griffin | older | $7.99 | 71 84% | 2.1k | $17k (exactly $17,019) | Nementic Games |
 | The Strange Story Of Brian Fisher: Chapter 2 | $14.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Intetic | |
 | LiMiT's Escape Room Games | older | $3.99 | 104 66% | 3.1k | $12k (exactly $12,449) | Marco Hirschfeld |
 | LiMiT's Escape Room Games 2 | older | $11.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $12k (exactly $12,230) | Marco Hirschfeld |
 | DreamBreak | older | $6.99 | 48 56% | 1.4k | $10k (exactly $10,066) | Fortell Games |
 | Slendrina Remake | $3.99 | 65 63% | 2.0k | $7.8k (exactly $7,780) | GearMech | |
 | They See Us | $3.99 | 60 85% | 1.8k | $7.2k (exactly $7,182) | MalumGames | |
 | Quantum Sleeper | $8.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $4.9k (exactly $4,855) | Helm Boy Studios | |
 | 10 Beautiful Postcards | $6.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $4.0k (exactly $3,984) | Harmony Corp | |
 | Collateral Dungeon | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | Techosaurus Studios | |
 | Black Tower Enigma | $7.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) | Ogre Pixel | |
 | Crimson Mansion | $11.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | Bence Pachinger-Molnár | |
 | Oldest Golden Treasure | $14.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | Vasil4N | |
 | Forlorn: The mysteries of Highshadowland | $9.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | The Spiteful Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.