Games › Loot › Loot + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Loot Visual Novel?
Loot + Visual Novel
Only 14 developers shipped a Loot Visual Novel 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, Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 8 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 530% on the market; 8 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,662) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $23,676) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 14 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 8 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 530% on the market, supply 150% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Loot
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Loot, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 227 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Loot with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds
- + Local Co-OpStrong odds
- + SteampunkStrong odds
- + CapitalismFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + JRPGFair
- + EconomyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + CatsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
Shadowhand: RPG Card Game 2017 · $340k 
Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World 2024 · $110k 
Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning 2018 · $48k 
Kowloon High-School Chronicle 2022 · $31k 
Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project 2026 · $24k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Shadowhand: RPG Card Game | older | $16.99 | 668 82% | 20k | $340k (exactly $340,480) | Grey Alien Games |
| | Dungeon Travelers: To Heart 2 in Another World | older | $19.99 | 184 82% | 5.5k | $110k (exactly $110,345) | AQUAPLUS |
| | Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning | older | $4.99 | 322 84% | 9.7k | $48k (exactly $48,203) | Entertainment Forge |
| | Kowloon High-School Chronicle | older | $19.99 | 51 90% | 1.5k | $31k (exactly $30,585) | TOYBOX |
| | Sex Vault: The Lust-Tec Project | $9.99 | 79 83% | 2.4k | $24k (exactly $23,676) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs The Thrilling Steamy Maze Kiwami | older | $29.99 | 23 56% | 690 | $21k (exactly $20,693) | FURYU CORPORATION |
 | Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse Ep2: Caged | older | $5.99 | 95 91% | 2.9k | $17k (exactly $17,072) | Entertainment Forge |
 | Thaw | $8.99 | 25 100% | 750 | $6.7k (exactly $6,742) | paochanz | |
 | Mosaica: Arboreal | $4.99 | 44 81% | 1.3k | $6.6k (exactly $6,587) | RymPow | |
 | Isekai Mage Girl Gacha Pull Simulator: Elemental Card Collection | $6.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $5.7k (exactly $5,662) | Violet Soft | |
 | Idle Harem Dungeon | $6.99 | 12 41% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Cheedle | |
 | Path of the Bogatyr | · EA | $5.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.2k (exactly $2,156) | RUzura Interactive |
 | NECRONOMICAT | $4.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) | GROOVY GORY GAMES | |
 | The Palaces of The Mind: Chapter One | $1.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $716 (exactly $716) | Logerofman Studio | |
 | Layer8Problem | $2.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $359 (exactly $359) | Schnaftikus Games | |
 | Pixel Way: Prologue | $4.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $299 (exactly $299) | Levelborn |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.