Do I ship it?

Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Mystery

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mystery Local Co-Op game?

Local Co-Op + Mystery

Of 23 developers who shipped a Mystery Local Co-Op 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.. 41 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $62k, ×132 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 41 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 41 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Mystery
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 23
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.6k → $227k → $809 → $1.4k → $4.3k → $8.2k → $0 (still earning) → $419 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Mystery: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 23
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Top 25% $6.0k (exactly $5,994)
Top 5% $63k (exactly $62,742)
Developers, 2 yr 23
Released games 74
Announced 41
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 60% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Mystery
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Local Co-Op; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Co-op
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Stylized, Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 14,159 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $5.9k, 1 in 20 over $62k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair11 devs · median $14k · 12 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair16 devs · median $11k · 15 announced
  4. + TriviaFair12 devs · median $7.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Action RPGFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  6. + ModernFair11 devs · median $3.6k · 10 announced
  7. + Dark FantasyFair40 devs · median $2.7k · 47 announced
  8. + Board GameFair35 devs · median $2.4k · 41 announced
  9. + Dungeon CrawlerFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  10. + MedievalFair46 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair22 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced

All 151 pairs on the Local Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

REANIMAL 2026 · $17M The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me 2022 · $4.5M The Past Within 2022 · $2.6M Tick Tock: A Tale for Two 2019 · $1.8M Escape Academy 2022 · $663k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
REANIMAL $39.99 13,809 78% 414k $17M (exactly $16,566,657) Tarsier Studios
The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me older $39.99 3,778 56% 113k $4.5M (exactly $4,532,467) Supermassive Games
The Past Within older $5.99 14,673 94% 440k $2.6M (exactly $2,636,738) Rusty Lake
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two older $5.99 10,006 85% 300k $1.8M (exactly $1,798,078) Other Tales Interactive
Escape Academy older $19.99 1,105 86% 33k $663k (exactly $662,668) Coin Crew Games
Wattam older $19.99 545 84% 16k $327k (exactly $326,836) Funomena
I'm on Observation Duty 6 older $11.99 652 94% 20k $235k (exactly $234,524) Notovia, Dreamloop Games
Lakeview Cabin 2 older $13.99 542 96% 16k $227k (exactly $227,477) Roope Tamminen
AsHes · EA older $24.99 226 61% 6.8k $169k (exactly $169,432) Yanmo Games
Harmony's Odyssey older $14.99 308 92% 9.2k $139k (exactly $138,508) MythicOwl
How 2 Escape: Lost Submarine $12.99 161 83% 4.8k $63k (exactly $62,742) Breakfirst Games
Ammo and Oxygen $14.99 53 64% 1.6k $24k (exactly $23,834) Juvty Worlds
NBB.EXE $19.99 18 100% 540 $11k (exactly $10,795) Raptus Games
Elsewhere Electric $24.99 11 27% 330 $8.2k (exactly $8,247) Games by Stitch
Phantom Relics $9.99 20 70% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Dex Games Studio
SusDoku: Clues & Suspects $4.99 37 35% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) MyNeuronal
Phantom Bound $10.99 13 84% 390 $4.3k (exactly $4,286) Pixel Blight
T1WRE3: NONAME $2.99 20 65% 600 $1.8k (exactly $1,794) NoName
Shrine Of The Forest God $2.99 17 100% 510 $1.5k (exactly $1,525) Dustin.

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.