Games › Investigation › Investigation + Puzzle Platformer
Should I ship an Investigation Puzzle Platformer?
Investigation + Puzzle Platformer
Of 50 developers who shipped an Investigation Puzzle Platformer 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.. 96 more are announced, ×4.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $50k, ×107 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 96 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $114 (exactly $114) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $3.4k (exactly $3,414) |
| Top 5% | $51k (exactly $50,649) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 183 |
| Announced | 96 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, 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
- Puzzle Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Puzzle Platformer; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 976 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 96 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.6 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
Murders on the Yangtze River 2024 · $7.1M 
Sanfu 2023 · $5.7M 
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
Logiart Grimoire 2024 · $201k 
Keyword: A Spider's Thread 2021 · $122k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Murders on the Yangtze River | older | $14.99 | 15,833 96% | 475k | $7.1M (exactly $7,120,100) | OMEGAMES STUDIO |
| | Sanfu | older | $10.99 | 17,323 82% | 520k | $5.7M (exactly $5,711,393) | Shiying Studio |
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
| | Keyword: A Spider's Thread | older | $16.99 | 239 79% | 7.2k | $122k (exactly $121,818) | City From Naught Inc. |
 | 墨心：波云诡船 | older | $2.99 | 1,175 88% | 35k | $105k (exactly $105,398) | 1001 Studio |
 | Joyville | older | $9.99 | 331 69% | 9.9k | $99k (exactly $99,201) | KudPlay Games |
 | Scarlet Hood and the Wicked Wood | older | $14.99 | 202 83% | 6.1k | $91k (exactly $90,839) | Devespresso Games |
 | Exographer | $19.99 | 124 94% | 3.7k | $74k (exactly $74,363) | SciFunGames | |
 | 春泥 Soil of Rebirth | $9.99 | 216 73% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $64,735) | 午夜说书人 | |
 | Rubbings | $9.99 | 183 87% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $54,845) | 午夜说书人 | |
 | Auridia | $9.99 | 169 97% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $50,649) | Reed Molbak, Norseboar Games | |
 | 火起雪中寺 | $10.99 | 59 77% | 1.8k | $19k (exactly $19,452) | 江湖奇事录 | |
 | The Strange Story Of Brian Fisher: Chapter 2 | $14.99 | 34 94% | 1.0k | $15k (exactly $15,290) | Intetic | |
 | Homicide Desk | $5.99 | 82 67% | 2.5k | $15k (exactly $14,735) | Shu'la Lab LLC | |
 | Memori | · EA | $14.99 | 22 95% | 660 | $9.9k (exactly $9,893) | PracticalNPC |
 | Sinheritance | $4.99 | 54 94% | 1.6k | $8.1k (exactly $8,084) | STIM GAMES | |
 | Trigger of Time | $7.99 | 33 93% | 990 | $7.9k (exactly $7,910) | Pantopie |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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