Games › Investigation › Investigation + Typing
Should I ship an Investigation Typing game?
Investigation + Typing
Of 22 developers who shipped an Investigation Typing game 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×269 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) |
| Top 5% | $128k (exactly $127,871) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 37 |
| 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 up 50% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Typing
- effort 1 / 10 · high · keyboard input against a word list
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Typing; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Simulation, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, Story Rich, Text-Based
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 4,318 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Her Story 2015 · $2.5M 
7 Days to End with You 2022 · $797k 
s.p.l.i.t 2025 · $346k 
The Crimson Diamond 2024 · $294k 
Uncover the Smoking Gun 2024 · $248k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Her Story | older | $9.99 | 8,367 89% | 251k | $2.5M (exactly $2,507,590) | Sam Barlow |
| | 7 Days to End with You | older | $7.99 | 3,327 87% | 100k | $797k (exactly $797,482) | Lizardry |
| | s.p.l.i.t | $2.99 | 3,862 92% | 116k | $346k (exactly $346,421) | Mike Klubnika | |
| | The Crimson Diamond | older | $14.99 | 653 96% | 20k | $294k (exactly $293,654) | Julia Minamata |
| | Uncover the Smoking Gun | older | $19.99 | 414 96% | 12k | $248k (exactly $248,276) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | Sofia in Exchange for Lies | $25.99 | 164 81% | 4.9k | $128k (exactly $127,871) | MUTAN, storynote | |
 | Midnight Protocol | older | $14.99 | 237 87% | 7.1k | $107k (exactly $106,579) | LuGus Studios |
 | French Crime Detective Game | older | $19.99 | 40 92% | 1.2k | $24k (exactly $23,988) | Rakame 7 |
 | Cyber Warrior | $19.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Dunke Games | |
 | Acolyte | older | $10.99 | 55 74% | 1.7k | $18k (exactly $18,134) | Superstring |
 | [Redacted] The Safehouse | $3.99 | 137 99% | 4.1k | $16k (exactly $16,399) | Heartbeast | |
 | Void Future: Hacking Protocol | $14.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $7.6k (exactly $7,645) | RVL Interactive | |
 | Project DeepWeb: Eternal Nightmare | $9.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $4.8k (exactly $4,795) | NightCat Studios | |
 | Coldwake | $3.99 | 38 100% | 1.1k | $4.5k (exactly $4,549) | MadLeap Games | |
 | Couch Detective | · EA | $4.99 | 19 57% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | Gamtropy |
 | T1WRE3: NONAME | $2.99 | 20 65% | 600 | $1.8k (exactly $1,794) | NoName | |
 | The Archive | $7.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | WILD Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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