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Should I ship a Magic Word Game?
Word Game + Magic
Of 31 developers who shipped a Magic Word 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.. 39 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×236 the market median. Revenue is up 1295% on the market; 39 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $119 (exactly $119) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 25% | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) |
| Top 5% | $112k (exactly $112,125) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 69 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 1295% on the market, supply 45% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Word Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, JRPG
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 90% positive over 1,514 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Word Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + TacticalFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventureFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + Procedural GenerationFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
Comparable games
Word Game 2022 · $6.2M 
Logiart Grimoire 2024 · $201k 
纸上的魔法使 2026 · $192k 
~Be a maid in the Demon World~ The Secret Café of the Demon Angel Hero. 2020 · $182k 
Demon Speakeasy 2022 · $172k | 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 |
| | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
| | 纸上的魔法使 | $29.99 | 213 89% | 6.4k | $192k (exactly $191,636) | UGUISUKAGURA | |
| | ~Be a maid in the Demon World~ The Secret Café of the Demon Angel Hero. | older | $18.99 | 320 74% | 9.6k | $182k (exactly $182,304) | Kokutou Umeboshi |
| | Demon Speakeasy | older | $9.99 | 573 79% | 17k | $172k (exactly $171,728) | 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer |
 | Our Brief Eternity | $4.99 | 749 99% | 22k | $112k (exactly $112,125) | 土豆花制作组 | |
 | スペルトナエル | older | $8.99 | 344 97% | 10k | $93k (exactly $92,777) | おまど |
 | Terra Alia: The Language Discovery RPG | older | $14.99 | 96 64% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | 30 Parallel |
 | Idle Land of Exile | $4.99 | 239 68% | 7.2k | $36k (exactly $35,778) | 所以然 | |
 | Leximan | older | $14.99 | 62 83% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $27,881) | Knights of Borria |
 | Keine's Expanding Class! | $5.99 | 143 99% | 4.3k | $26k (exactly $25,697) | HornyMelon | |
 | WonderLang Japanese | $24.99 | 14 42% | 420 | $10k (exactly $10,496) | bair games | |
 | Locktale | $7.99 | 30 83% | 900 | $7.2k (exactly $7,191) | Mina Pêcheux | |
 | Cultivation Idle | · EA | $1.99 | 85 76% | 2.6k | $5.1k (exactly $5,074) | 老鱼工作室 |
 | WonderLang Korean | $24.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $4.5k (exactly $4,498) | bair games | |
 | The Sojourning Wise Woman's Final Quest | $6.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $4.4k (exactly $4,404) | Orscat | |
 | Typomagical | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Sigcom |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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