Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Pirates
Should I ship a Pirate Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Pirates
Of 32 developers who shipped a Pirate Puzzle 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, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×1.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $46k, ×73 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 39 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) |
| Top 5% | $46k (exactly $46,154) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 120 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 65% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Sailing
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 1,646 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Medical SimFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + VampiresFair
- + CatsFair
- + DemonsFair
- + God GameFair
- + RomanceFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + LemmingsFair
Comparable games
Return of the Obra Dinn 2018 · $19M 
Assassin’s Creed® Rogue 2015 · $13M 
Return to Monkey Island 2022 · $6.3M 
LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game 2014 · $2.1M 
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition 2009 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Return of the Obra Dinn | older | $19.99 | 32,309 96% | 969k | $19M (exactly $19,375,707) | Lucas Pope |
| | Assassin’s Creed® Rogue | older | $19.99 | 21,310 86% | 639k | $13M (exactly $12,779,607) | Ubisoft Sofia, Ubisoft Kiev |
| | Return to Monkey Island | older | $24.99 | 8,412 91% | 252k | $6.3M (exactly $6,306,476) | Terrible Toybox |
| | LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game | older | $19.99 | 3,564 90% | 107k | $2.1M (exactly $2,137,331) | Traveller's Tales |
| | The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition | older | $9.99 | 5,335 95% | 160k | $1.6M (exactly $1,598,900) | LucasArts |
 | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
 | Monkey Island™ 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge™ | older | $9.99 | 2,612 94% | 78k | $783k (exactly $782,816) | LucasArts |
 | The Curse of Monkey Island | older | $6.99 | 2,821 97% | 85k | $592k (exactly $591,564) | LucasArts |
 | Cleo - a pirate's tale | older | $14.99 | 705 98% | 21k | $317k (exactly $317,038) | Christoph Schultz |
 | Willy Morgan and the Curse of Bone Town | older | $19.99 | 510 87% | 15k | $306k (exactly $305,847) | imaginarylab |
 | Sea Chronicles | $9.99 | 154 90% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $46,154) | Madi Abdykarimov | |
 | Pirates: Golden tits: Chapter 1 | $9.99 | 153 80% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $45,854) | HotBunny | |
 | Cape Hideous | $5.99 | 242 98% | 7.3k | $43k (exactly $43,487) | Jake Clover | |
 | Shadowhand Solitaire | $13.99 | 64 90% | 1.9k | $27k (exactly $26,861) | Grey Alien Games | |
 | Vendetta Forever | $19.99 | 34 76% | 1.0k | $20k (exactly $20,390) | Meatspace Interactive | |
 | LOGBOOK: Beneath the Storm | $13.99 | 13 38% | 390 | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) | Pink Iceberg Games | |
 | Sunken Stones | $11.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $5.0k (exactly $5,036) | Spritewrench | |
 | Seven Seas Jewels Collector's Edition | $14.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | Anawiki Games | |
 | Seven Seas Jewels 2 Collector's Edition | $15.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.9k (exactly $2,878) | Anawiki Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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