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Should I ship a Word Game JRPG?
JRPG + Word Game
Of 42 developers who shipped a Word Game JRPG 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.. 53 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×179 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 53 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,498) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,712) |
| Top 5% | $112k (exactly $112,125) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 196 |
| Announced | 53 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $0.99 |
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 20% on the market, supply 25% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- JRPG, Word Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction
- Price point
- $0.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $0.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 6,399 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
JRPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Mystery DungeonStrong odds
- + NinjaFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + ManagementFair
- + Souls-likeFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + RoguelikeFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
Word Game 2022 · $6.2M 
灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 2025 · $1.1M 
Vampires' Melody 2020 · $665k 
月球坠落时 Moon Fall 2021 · $442k 
NICE TO MEET YOU, AGAIN 2026 · $250k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Word Game | older | $34.99 | 5,930 93% | 178k | $6.2M (exactly $6,224,721) | Team9 |
| | 灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 | $9.99 | 3,682 90% | 110k | $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) | 莓夜工作室 | |
| | Vampires' Melody | older | $3.99 | 5,559 97% | 167k | $665k (exactly $665,412) | AsicxArt |
| | 月球坠落时 Moon Fall | older | $14.99 | 982 87% | 29k | $442k (exactly $441,605) | Xihe Animation, JasminsSummer Project |
| | NICE TO MEET YOU, AGAIN | $24.99 | 334 97% | 10k | $250k (exactly $250,400) | Purple Software | |
 | ~Be a maid in the Demon World~ The Secret Café of the Demon Angel Hero. | older | $18.99 | 320 74% | 9.6k | $182k (exactly $182,304) | Kokutou Umeboshi |
 | Vampires' Melody 2 | older | $3.99 | 999 87% | 30k | $120k (exactly $119,580) | AsicxArt |
 | Our Brief Eternity | $4.99 | 749 99% | 22k | $112k (exactly $112,125) | 土豆花制作组 | |
 | 每日亲亲洛丽塔 | $8.99 | 375 74% | 11k | $101k (exactly $101,138) | 夜羊社 | |
 | Lost:Antinomy | older | $2.99 | 1,042 88% | 31k | $93k (exactly $93,467) | IMaiIna |
 | Under the River | $5.99 | 485 95% | 15k | $87k (exactly $87,154) | 夜火游戏（Night Fire Game） | |
 | 狂想！夏日盛宴 | $6.99 | 372 95% | 11k | $78k (exactly $78,008) | Tenth Art Studio | |
 | Nobody Nowhere | $9.99 | 172 93% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,548) | 深渊标记 Tag:hadal | |
 | Throne of Monsters 怪物的王座 | $12.99 | 130 92% | 3.9k | $51k (exactly $50,661) | 雏形游戏 | |
 | WonderLang Polyglot | $39.99 | 36 80% | 1.1k | $43k (exactly $43,189) | bair games | |
 | はじめるセカイの理想論 -goodbye world index | $19.99 | 64 84% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $38,381) | Whirlpool |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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