Do I ship it?

GamesPoint & ClickPoint & Click + Visual Novel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Point & Click Visual Novel?

Point & Click + Visual Novel

Of 507 developers who shipped a Point & Click Visual Novel 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.. 758 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.9k, ×33 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $390k, ×3341 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 758 games are announced against 304 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 32.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 30% on the market, 758 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Point & Click + Visual Novel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 507
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $8.5k → $8.2k → $6.3k → $3.6k → $4.2k → $5.4k → $2.7k (still earning) → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Point & Click + Visual Novel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 507
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $3.9k (exactly $3,896)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $24,740)
Top 5% $398k (exactly $397,601)
Developers, 2 yr 507
Released games 1,589
Announced 758
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 30% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
Visual Novel
effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Point & Click, Visual Novel; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Choices Matter, Interactive Fiction
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 240,998 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $3.9k, 1 in 4 over $24k, 1 in 20 over $390k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 292 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 758 games are announced against 304 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Point & Click with a different second tag, 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
Dispatch $29.99 174,624 97% 5.2M $157M (exactly $157,109,213) AdHoc Studio
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut older $39.99 118,124 92% 3.5M $142M (exactly $141,713,363) ZA/UM
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series older $49.99 36,594 96% 1.1M $55M (exactly $54,880,022) Skybound Games
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy older $29.99 35,628 97% 1.1M $32M (exactly $32,054,512) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD older $15.99 54,053 94% 1.6M $26M (exactly $25,929,224) WSS playground, xemono
The Walking Dead older $14.99 53,650 97% 1.6M $24M (exactly $24,126,405) Telltale Games
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc older $19.99 36,194 96% 1.1M $22M (exactly $21,705,542) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games)
Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut older $17.99 31,885 96% 957k $17M (exactly $17,208,334) Black Tabby Games
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action older $14.99 33,838 97% 1.0M $15M (exactly $15,216,949) Sukeban Games
The Wolf Among Us older $14.99 32,494 97% 975k $15M (exactly $14,612,552) Telltale
Tiny Bunny $10.99 27,200 83% 816k $9.0M (exactly $8,967,840) Saikono, Sokar
Esoteric Ebb $24.99 8,719 95% 262k $6.5M (exactly $6,536,634) Christoffer Bodegård
Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story $11.99 12,215 98% 366k $4.4M (exactly $4,393,736) Nestopi Inc.
Urban Myth Dissolution Center $17.99 5,930 88% 178k $3.2M (exactly $3,200,421) Hakababunko
Sovereign Tower $19.99 3,087 93% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) WILD WITS GAMES
The Mermaid Mask $19.99 2,776 99% 83k $1.7M (exactly $1,664,767) SFB Games
PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse $24.99 2,169 95% 65k $1.6M (exactly $1,626,099) Square Enix
Aurelia $19.99 2,253 94% 68k $1.4M (exactly $1,351,124) MirthalGames
Cabernet $19.99 2,025 94% 61k $1.2M (exactly $1,214,392) Party for Introverts

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