Should I ship a Noir Logic game?
Logic + Noir
Of 42 developers who shipped a Noir Logic 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.. 59 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $510. Revenue is up 85% on the market; 59 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $503 (exactly $503) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,695) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) |
| Top 5% | $373k (exactly $373,013) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 42 |
| Released games | 107 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Logic; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Investigation, Adventure, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 13,411 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $510. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Logic with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LovecraftianFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + HackingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DragonsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Bullet TimeFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + TransportationFair
- + Automobile SimFair
- + CookingFair
- + Visual NovelFair
Comparable games
Word Game 2022 · $6.2M 
The Roottrees are Dead 2025 · $5.8M 
Blacksad: Under the Skin 2019 · $3.2M 
In Sink: A Co-op Escape Adventure 2024 · $644k 
The Shell Part III: Paradiso 2025 · $373k | 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 |
| | The Roottrees are Dead | $19.99 | 9,700 96% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,817,090) | Evil Trout Inc. | |
| | Blacksad: Under the Skin | older | $19.99 | 5,356 83% | 161k | $3.2M (exactly $3,211,993) | Pendulo Studios, YS Interactive |
| | In Sink: A Co-op Escape Adventure | $14.99 | 1,432 86% | 43k | $644k (exactly $643,970) | Clock Out Games | |
| | The Shell Part III: Paradiso | $19.99 | 622 96% | 19k | $373k (exactly $373,013) | Innocent Grey | |
 | Confidential Killings - A Detective Game | $14.99 | 716 76% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,985) | BRANE, Lorenzo Boni | |
 | CaseCracker2 | older | $11.99 | 759 90% | 23k | $273k (exactly $273,012) | BlackRobe |
 | Mind Diver | $17.99 | 316 94% | 9.5k | $171k (exactly $170,545) | Indoor Sunglasses | |
 | The Ratline | $14.99 | 329 82% | 9.9k | $148k (exactly $147,951) | Owlskip Games | |
 | Quarantine Circular | older | $5.99 | 432 88% | 13k | $78k (exactly $77,630) | Bithell Games |
 | Case Solved: The London Files | $9.99 | 107 65% | 3.2k | $32k (exactly $32,068) | Minimol Games | |
 | Connected Clue | $19.99 | 46 69% | 1.4k | $28k (exactly $27,586) | Alpheratz Games | |
 | What's the Password? | $7.99 | 91 69% | 2.7k | $22k (exactly $21,813) | TrampolineTales | |
 | Detective Bloodphobia | $6.99 | 52 100% | 1.6k | $11k (exactly $10,904) | Gustav, LuB2an |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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