Do I ship it?

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Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Word Game?

Local Co-Op + Word Game

Only 10 developers shipped a Local Co-Op Word 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, The Jackbox Survey Scramble, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 10 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $95k, ×201 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 10 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 10 announced, ×1.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Word Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Word Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $18,609)
Top 5% $95k (exactly $95,305)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 25
Announced 10
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 85% on the market, supply 135% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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
Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI

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, Word Game
Price point
$9.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 91% positive over 532 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $95k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 10 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different second tag, 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

The Jackbox Party Pack 7 2020 · $3.6M The Jackbox Party Pack 8 2021 · $1.0M The Jackbox Party Pack 9 2022 · $544k The Jackbox Survey Scramble 2024 · $95k What The Dub?! 2021 · $93k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Jackbox Party Pack 7 older $29.99 4,001 96% 120k $3.6M (exactly $3,599,700) Jackbox Games, Inc.
The Jackbox Party Pack 8 older $29.99 1,134 90% 34k $1.0M (exactly $1,020,260) Jackbox Games, Inc.
The Jackbox Party Pack 9 older $29.99 605 84% 18k $544k (exactly $544,318) Jackbox Games, Inc.
The Jackbox Survey Scramble $9.99 318 90% 9.5k $95k (exactly $95,305) Jackbox Games, Inc
What The Dub?! older $7.99 386 91% 12k $93k (exactly $92,524) Wide Right Interactive, Mark Zorn, Kurt… (Wide Right Interactive, Mark Zorn, Kurt Wojda)
Deviation Game · EA $14.99 109 90% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) Tomo Kihara, Playfool
Heads Up! Phones Down Edition older $39.99 25 64% 750 $30k (exactly $29,992) Aspyr
おしゃべりキング！コミュ力診断ゲーム $8.99 69 97% 2.1k $19k (exactly $18,609) Hyper Index, Inc.
Schlag den Star - Das 3. Spiel older $29.99 11 9% 330 $9.9k (exactly $9,897) Twigames Inc.
Yesterday's News $11.99 18 83% 540 $6.5k (exactly $6,475) Rooibos Games
Waddle Words $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Grau Games
Zingers $7.99 2 50% 60 $479 (exactly $479) devbribe
Ray Cheng Trivia Editor $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Ray Cheng
图说八道 $3.99 2 100% 60 $239 (exactly $239) StarryMatrix
Teach Kids Math $19.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) 2kblater
Cryptogram $4.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) MrCakeSlayer

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