Games › Typing › Typing + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Typing game?
Typing + Mystery
Of 39 developers who shipped a Mystery Typing 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.. 51 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×295 the market median. Revenue is up 305% on the market; 51 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,549) |
| Top 5% | $140k (exactly $139,902) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 92 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 305% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, 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
- Typing; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, Puzzle
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Text-Based, Atmospheric, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 2,723 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Typing with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CombatFair
- + Psychological HorrorFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + HackingFair
- + TacticalFair
- + ModernFair
Comparable games
Home Safety Hotline 2024 · $1.2M 
CaseCracker 2022 · $993k 
Event[0] 2016 · $869k 
DEAD LETTER DEPT. 2025 · $799k 
7 Days to End with You 2022 · $797k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Home Safety Hotline | older | $14.99 | 2,763 90% | 83k | $1.2M (exactly $1,242,521) | Night Signal Entertainment |
| | CaseCracker | older | $9.99 | 3,314 89% | 99k | $993k (exactly $993,206) | BlackRobe |
| | Event[0] | older | $19.99 | 1,449 79% | 43k | $869k (exactly $868,965) | Ocelot Society |
| | DEAD LETTER DEPT. | $14.99 | 1,777 95% | 53k | $799k (exactly $799,117) | Mike Monroe, Belief Engine | |
| | 7 Days to End with You | older | $7.99 | 3,327 87% | 100k | $797k (exactly $797,482) | Lizardry |
 | The Crimson Diamond | older | $14.99 | 653 96% | 20k | $294k (exactly $293,654) | Julia Minamata |
 | CaseCracker2 | older | $11.99 | 759 90% | 23k | $273k (exactly $273,012) | BlackRobe |
 | Turlock Holmes | older | $9.99 | 897 80% | 27k | $269k (exactly $268,831) | Find the Lamp Games |
 | Black Lily's Tale | older | $18.99 | 438 86% | 13k | $250k (exactly $249,529) | 1000-REKA |
 | Uncover the Smoking Gun | older | $19.99 | 414 96% | 12k | $248k (exactly $248,276) | ReLU Games, Inc. |
 | CaseCracker3 | $12.99 | 359 84% | 11k | $140k (exactly $139,902) | BlackRobe | |
 | Sofia in Exchange for Lies | $25.99 | 164 81% | 4.9k | $128k (exactly $127,871) | MUTAN, storynote | |
 | 探岛海龟汤 | $9.99 | 110 71% | 3.3k | $33k (exactly $32,967) | 探岛工作室 | |
 | Cyber Warrior | $19.99 | 39 84% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Dunke Games | |
 | Gumshoe Detective Agency: The First Case | $9.99 | 56 73% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $16,783) | Birdy Interactive | |
 | [Redacted] The Safehouse | $3.99 | 137 99% | 4.1k | $16k (exactly $16,399) | Heartbeast | |
 | Blackdoor | $12.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $7.8k (exactly $7,794) | Static Signal | |
 | Hate You | $7.99 | 23 95% | 690 | $5.5k (exactly $5,513) | PALINI | |
 | Coldwake | $3.99 | 38 100% | 1.1k | $4.5k (exactly $4,549) | MadLeap Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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