Games › Investigation › Investigation + Tabletop
Should I ship an Investigation Tabletop game?
Investigation + Tabletop
Only 17 developers shipped an Investigation Tabletop game 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, Eyes of Hellfire, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $45k, ×97 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,398) |
| Top 5% | $46k (exactly $45,854) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Tabletop
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Tabletop; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, 3D Platformer, Card Game
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 293 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 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
Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition 2018 · $1.6M 
Werewolf: The Apocalypse — Heart of the Forest 2020 · $362k 
The Test: Final Revelation 2020 · $316k 
The Solitaire Conspiracy 2020 · $267k 
Clue/Cluedo 2023 · $220k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Clue/Cluedo: Classic Edition | older | $16.99 | 3,096 88% | 93k | $1.6M (exactly $1,578,031) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
| | 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 |
| | The Solitaire Conspiracy | older | $11.99 | 742 89% | 22k | $267k (exactly $266,897) | Bithell Games |
| | Clue/Cluedo | older | $14.99 | 489 89% | 15k | $220k (exactly $219,903) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 4 | older | $4.99 | 787 96% | 24k | $118k (exactly $117,814) | Notovia |
 | The Testing Chamber | older | $4.99 | 697 96% | 21k | $104k (exactly $104,341) | Randumb Studios |
 | Eyes of Hellfire | · EA | $9.99 | 153 70% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $45,854) | Gambrinous |
 | 3DMurderMystery TheAshenYou | $18.99 | 38 73% | 1.1k | $22k (exactly $21,649) | ぐだぐだぶとん | |
 | LiMiT's Escape Room Games | older | $3.99 | 104 66% | 3.1k | $12k (exactly $12,449) | Marco Hirschfeld |
 | BeatRider | $11.99 | 32 53% | 960 | $12k (exactly $11,510) | 无限电玩, Combo X Camp | |
 | Dungeon Tells | $7.99 | 32 75% | 960 | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) | Ace Benoff | |
 | Rascal's Escape | $29.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $5.4k (exactly $5,398) | the Good Evil GmbH | |
 | Detective 26 | $7.62 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.4k (exactly $3,429) | TestOneDev | |
 | Hexa's Gone | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | DevloCore | |
 | Whoowasit? | $14.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.3k (exactly $1,349) | Korion Interactive | |
 | AI Fantasy | $4.99 | 6 33% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Zueir AI | |
 | NETBREAK | $6.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | Splice |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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