Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + LGBTQ+
Should I ship an LGBTQ+ Puzzle game?
Puzzle + LGBTQ+
Of 133 developers who shipped an LGBTQ+ Puzzle 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.. 183 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×16 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $670k, ×5680 the market median. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 183 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $27,872) |
| Top 5% | $676k (exactly $675,862) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 133 |
| Released games | 662 |
| Announced | 183 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 275% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 32,397 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 130 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 183 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019 · $32M 
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle 2024 · $27M 
Unpacking 2021 · $21M 
SIGNALIS 2022 · $18M 
House Party 2022 · $10M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy | older | $29.99 | 35,628 97% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,054,512) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | $69.99 | 13,058 89% | 392k | $27M (exactly $27,417,883) | MachineGames | |
| | Unpacking | older | $19.99 | 35,072 93% | 1.1M | $21M (exactly $21,032,678) | Witch Beam |
| | SIGNALIS | older | $19.99 | 30,601 96% | 918k | $18M (exactly $18,351,420) | rose-engine |
| | House Party | older | $24.99 | 13,968 85% | 419k | $10M (exactly $10,471,810) | Eek! Games, LLC |
 | Bugsnax | older | $24.99 | 8,673 97% | 260k | $6.5M (exactly $6,502,148) | Young Horses |
 | The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | older | $39.99 | 5,113 93% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,134,066) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Five Nights at Freddy's: Help Wanted 2 | older | $39.99 | 5,092 94% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,108,872) | Steel Wool Studios |
 | The Roottrees are Dead | $19.99 | 9,700 96% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,817,090) | Evil Trout Inc. | |
 | The Red Strings Club | older | $14.99 | 12,797 93% | 384k | $5.8M (exactly $5,754,811) | Deconstructeam |
 | Sorry We're Closed | $24.99 | 1,643 98% | 49k | $1.2M (exactly $1,231,757) | à la mode games | |
 | Squeakross: Home Squeak Home | $14.99 | 2,045 98% | 61k | $920k (exactly $919,636) | Alblune | |
 | Great God Grove | $19.99 | 1,381 98% | 41k | $828k (exactly $828,186) | LimboLane | |
 | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler | |
 | Third Crisis: Neon Nights | · EA | $19.99 | 1,127 92% | 34k | $676k (exactly $675,862) | Anduo Games |
 | Thrifty Business | $12.99 | 1,228 97% | 37k | $479k (exactly $478,552) | Spellgarden Games | |
 | Urban Jungle | $11.99 | 667 90% | 20k | $240k (exactly $239,920) | KYLYK | |
 | Methods: The Canada Files | $19.99 | 299 94% | 9.0k | $179k (exactly $179,310) | LockedOn Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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