Do I ship it?

GamesPoint & ClickPoint & Click + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Point & Click game?

Point & Click + Underground

Only 18 developers shipped an Underground Point & Click game 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, Brno Transit, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×334 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 19 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 19 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Point & Click + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $539 → $1.9k → $3.8k → $599 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Point & Click + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,741)
Top 5% $159k (exactly $158,853)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 42
Announced 19
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 down 50% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Point & Click; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Simulation, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 1,450 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $600, 1 in 4 over $5.7k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Point & Click with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair41 devs · median $8.4k · 45 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair50 devs · median $5.8k · 56 announced
  3. + Party-Based RPGFair17 devs · median $2.5k · 20 announced
  4. + Life SimFair162 devs · median $2.4k · 219 announced
  5. + Local MultiplayerFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  6. + MiningFair36 devs · median $1.9k · 39 announced
  7. + CookingFair68 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  8. + Escape RoomFair62 devs · median $1.8k · 51 announced
  9. + UnderwaterFair21 devs · median $1.8k · 20 announced
  10. + Local Co-OpFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpFair28 devs · median $1.7k · 34 announced
  12. + Word GameFair60 devs · median $1.6k · 56 announced

All 200 pairs on the Point & Click page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
THE LONGING older $14.99 6,977 92% 209k $3.1M (exactly $3,137,557) Studio Seufz
Mr. Prepper older $19.99 4,795 81% 144k $2.9M (exactly $2,875,562) Rejected Games
Brno Transit $8.99 589 85% 18k $159k (exactly $158,853) Spytihněv
Diggin $6.99 635 80% 19k $133k (exactly $133,160) Longshot Studio
Escort Simulator older $19.99 215 61% 6.5k $129k (exactly $128,935) Somavision Games
Rodland of Pipes older $8.99 262 98% 7.9k $71k (exactly $70,661) Justin Jones
I live under your house. older $1.99 305 80% 9.2k $18k (exactly $18,208) SpoocleMacBoogle
Darkness Under My Bed older $5.99 85 90% 2.6k $15k (exactly $15,274) Desert Fox
100 hidden frogs 2 older $0.99 327 77% 9.8k $9.7k (exactly $9,712) Anatoliy Loginovskikh
100 hidden gnomes older $0.99 269 79% 8.1k $8.0k (exactly $7,989) Anatoliy Loginovskikh, Drop_Dead_Fred
Cozy Mining $6.99 38 76% 1.1k $8.0k (exactly $7,969) tatsumaki games
Cave Hikers $9.99 20 95% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Studio Spektar, Porcupine Parkour
Death Sees Twice: Spot the Difference $2.99 64 81% 1.9k $5.7k (exactly $5,741) hirohasu
Sludge Department $4.99 30 100% 900 $4.5k (exactly $4,491) Simon Juhl
Hardcore and Death $1.99 64 84% 1.9k $3.8k (exactly $3,821) ZERO5GAMES
Imperial Settlers: Imperial Miners $12.99 5 100% 150 $1.9k (exactly $1,948) infoexpert games
Riches in the Deep $9.99 2 50% 60 $599 (exactly $599) Berk Arifoglu
Bael's Rock: A Text Adventure $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) GameClicks

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.