Do I ship it?

Games › Word Game › Word Game + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Word Game?

Word Game + Post-apocalyptic

Only 11 developers shipped a Post-apocalyptic Word 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, The Inn-Sanity, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $240 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 7 developers shipped in the last year and 26 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 100% on the market, 26 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Word Game + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $179 → $17k → $240 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Word Game + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $449 (exactly $449)
Top 5% $374k (exactly $374,172)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 28
Announced 26
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $2.50

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 100% on the market, supply 75% 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Word Game
Price point
$2.50 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 8 games average 96% positive over 1,665 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $180, 1 in 4 over $440, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Word Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SurvivalFair22 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  2. + TacticalFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  3. + Point & ClickFair60 devs · median $1.6k · 56 announced
  4. + LootFair15 devs · median $1.6k · 8 announced
  5. + AutomationFair12 devs · median $1.6k · 11 announced
  6. + Choose Your Own AdventureFair55 devs · median $1.4k · 65 announced
  7. + DetectiveFair82 devs · median $1.3k · 90 announced
  8. + Procedural GenerationFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair18 devs · median $1.2k · 16 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair29 devs · median $1.2k · 26 announced
  11. + IncrementalFair91 devs · median $1.2k · 77 announced
  12. + NatureFair12 devs · median $1.0k · 8 announced

All 98 pairs on the Word Game page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Our End of the World 2017 · $1.3M The Inn-Sanity 2025 · $374k Mandemon 2023 · $31k Last Days 2021 · $22k 翎之歌 2025 · $17k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Our End of the World older $9.99 4,453 79% 134k $1.3M (exactly $1,334,564) 橘子班, 大好网
The Inn-Sanity $7.99 1,561 96% 47k $374k (exactly $374,172) Steppe Hare Studio
Mandemon older $2.99 350 86% 11k $31k (exactly $31,395) 致意
Last Days older $3.99 184 94% 5.5k $22k (exactly $22,025) 琉璃花糖制作组
翎之歌 $6.99 83 89% 2.5k $17k (exactly $17,405) YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸
Word Warrior: Zombie Typocalypse older $3.99 19 89% 570 $2.3k (exactly $2,274) Choice Provisions, Gamecraft
Keyboard Warrior older $4.99 8 75% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) neohuun
我穿越回末世5天前 · EA $2.99 5 40% 150 $449 (exactly $449) 浔曜
APEIROPHILIA older $4.50 3 100% 90 $405 (exactly $405) Scissors In The Plug
Safe House older $3.99 3 33% 90 $359 (exactly $359) HuangZeXin
Urgent Message $0.99 9 100% 270 $267 (exactly $267) PixelMua
奈落之晓 $7.99 1 100% 30 $240 (exactly $240) linm-Official
Employee Rules of the Night Strings $1.99 3 100% 90 $179 (exactly $179) 夜弦酒吧
牧羊人 Shepherd $2.00 2 100% 60 $120 (exactly $120) 黑眼圈工厂 Dark Circle Studio
That's Not My Kind $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) LunarkGames
Final Shelter $2.50 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Syndicate Corp.
D-short $1.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Hogenapl

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