Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Procedural Generation game?
Procedural Generation + Psychological
Of 39 developers who shipped a Psychological Procedural Generation 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.. 67 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×285 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 67 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 5% | $135k (exactly $135,191) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 67 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 10% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Procedural Generation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Procedural Generation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Puzzle, Roguelite
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,017 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 67 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Procedural Generation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SnowFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + Word GameFair
- + TypingFair
- + IdlerFair
- + LogicFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Enter The Backrooms 2021 · $296k 
It Has My Face 2026 · $182k 
CAPTURED 2 2026 · $135k 
CAPTURED 2024 · $121k 
The Light Keeps Us Safe 2019 · $77k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Enter The Backrooms | older | $9.99 | 986 87% | 30k | $296k (exactly $295,504) | Justin Kroh |
| | It Has My Face | $9.99 | 608 88% | 18k | $182k (exactly $182,218) | NightByte Games | |
| | CAPTURED 2 | $7.99 | 564 99% | 17k | $135k (exactly $135,191) | Puck Redflix | |
| | CAPTURED | $6.45 | 627 95% | 19k | $121k (exactly $121,324) | Puck Redflix | |
| | The Light Keeps Us Safe | older | $19.99 | 128 57% | 3.8k | $77k (exactly $76,762) | Big Robot Ltd |
 | Transliminal: Beyond The Backrooms | · EA older | $12.49 | 153 90% | 4.6k | $57k (exactly $57,329) | Corey Jeffries |
 | Photogenic Minds : Identity | older | $19.99 | 89 88% | 2.7k | $53k (exactly $53,373) | 727 Not Hound |
 | Dreamcards | $9.99 | 82 98% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | Soneka Games | |
 | The Detective Reaper Invites | older | $9.99 | 58 37% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | SHIZU KANO UMI |
 | Angel's Dreams | $9.99 | 38 92% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,389) | Crooked Road | |
 | Seclusion | · EA | $9.99 | 19 68% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Forgeworks Studio |
 | MK-ULTRA Psychic Defense | · EA | $7.00 | 23 91% | 690 | $4.8k (exactly $4,830) | Zero Sequels |
 | Habit Puzzles | $9.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | NQNStudios | |
 | 15th Prison | $3.99 | 28 92% | 840 | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) | Zettanium | |
 | Gamble: Hard Exit | $5.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $2.7k (exactly $2,696) | RedZet |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.