Games › Puzzle › Puzzle + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Psychological
Of 502 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 739 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $66k, ×140 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 739 games are announced against 292 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $959 (exactly $959) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 5% | $67k (exactly $66,685) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 502 |
| Released games | 1,208 |
| Announced | 739 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 15% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 10,829 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 261 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 739 games are announced against 292 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
BONELAB 2022 · $22M 
The Stanley Parable 2013 · $18M 
Superliminal 2020 · $17M 
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley 2023 · EA · $13M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | BONELAB | older | $39.99 | 18,670 82% | 560k | $22M (exactly $22,398,399) | Stress Level Zero |
| | The Stanley Parable | older | $14.99 | 40,292 92% | 1.2M | $18M (exactly $18,119,312) | Galactic Cafe |
| | Superliminal | older | $19.99 | 28,428 94% | 853k | $17M (exactly $17,048,272) | Pillow Castle |
| | The Coffin of Andy and Leyley | · EA older | $11.99 | 36,603 96% | 1.1M | $13M (exactly $13,166,099) | Kit9 Studio |
 | The Medium | older | $49.99 | 7,485 88% | 225k | $11M (exactly $11,225,254) | Bloober Team |
 | Buckshot Roulette | older | $2.99 | 110,042 95% | 3.3M | $9.9M (exactly $9,870,767) | Mike Klubnika |
 | Fran Bow | older | $14.99 | 20,579 97% | 617k | $9.3M (exactly $9,254,376) | Killmonday Games AB |
 | Viewfinder | older | $24.99 | 11,901 94% | 357k | $8.9M (exactly $8,922,180) | Sad Owl Studios |
 | Antichamber | older | $19.99 | 13,656 95% | 410k | $8.2M (exactly $8,189,503) | Alexander Bruce |
 | Luto | $19.99 | 1,225 85% | 37k | $735k (exactly $734,632) | Broken Bird Games | |
 | One-Eyed Likho | $19.99 | 1,155 93% | 35k | $693k (exactly $692,654) | Morteshka | |
 | Last Report | $4.99 | 2,423 89% | 73k | $363k (exactly $362,723) | Monopixel Games | |
 | Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken | $19.99 | 595 94% | 18k | $357k (exactly $356,822) | scriptwelder | |
 | Demons' Timeline | $10.99 | 1,046 97% | 31k | $345k (exactly $344,866) | DigitalCats | |
 | Slender Threads | $19.99 | 574 90% | 17k | $344k (exactly $344,228) | Blyts | |
 | Dead Take | $14.99 | 752 87% | 23k | $338k (exactly $338,174) | Surgent Studios | |
 | Mindlock - The Apartment | $14.99 | 629 95% | 19k | $283k (exactly $282,861) | Roof Cut Media | |
 | ENTITY: THE BLACK DAY | $17.99 | 494 79% | 15k | $267k (exactly $266,612) | ASD Games Studio | |
 | HER TREES : PUZZLE DREAM | $3.99 | 1,936 97% | 58k | $232k (exactly $231,739) | Stone |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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