Do I ship it?

Games › Word Game › Word Game + Psychological

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological Word Game?

Word Game + Psychological

Of 36 developers who shipped a Psychological Word 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.. 48 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $780, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $90. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 48 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 48 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Word Game + Psychological
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.9k → $359 → $3.4k → $1.3k → $899 → $1.2k → $599 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Word Game + Psychological: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $779 (exactly $779)
Top 25% $3.9k (exactly $3,892)
Top 5% $255k (exactly $254,721)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 88
Announced 48
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.49

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 20% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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.

Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI
Psychological
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Word Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction, Dating Sim
Price point
$4.49 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Emotional, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.49.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 4,666 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 $780, 1 in 4 over $3.8k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 6 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 48 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

7 Days to End with You 2022 · $797k DEATH NOTE Killer Within 2024 · $697k CaseCracker2 2024 · $273k Cellveillance 2025 · $255k Stiff Neck 2026 · $200k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
7 Days to End with You older $7.99 3,327 87% 100k $797k (exactly $797,482) Lizardry
DEATH NOTE Killer Within $9.99 2,324 84% 70k $697k (exactly $696,503) Grounding Inc.
CaseCracker2 older $11.99 759 90% 23k $273k (exactly $273,012) BlackRobe
Cellveillance $15.99 531 85% 16k $255k (exactly $254,721) KARMAGAME HK LIMITED
Stiff Neck $6.99 955 81% 29k $200k (exactly $200,264) 伤官制作组 Team Uranian
Gensokyo：Presumption of Guilt~Pansies Before Dawn $14.99 250 92% 7.5k $112k (exactly $112,425) 戏壤游戏(Xirang Games)
Ignited in Cavern older $1.99 1,326 93% 40k $79k (exactly $79,162) 伤官制作组 Team Uranian
目盲/Blind older $2.99 865 84% 26k $78k (exactly $77,590) GOCORE
1997 older $9.99 231 92% 6.9k $69k (exactly $69,231) Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Intera… (Hit'n'Run Digital Studio, RUZURA Interactive)
精神病大王花 Flowering Abyss older $7.99 228 82% 6.8k $55k (exactly $54,652) CHARON
咒影 Curse of the Shadow $3.99 285 81% 8.6k $34k (exactly $34,114) 小青蛙妙妙制作组
Curse or Love $4.49 84 90% 2.5k $11k (exactly $11,315) 小橘子糖_official
Mercury Elopement Syndrome $1.99 171 82% 5.1k $10k (exactly $10,209) Renka
神明高中生 - Cosmic High Schooler $6.99 20 100% 600 $4.2k (exactly $4,194) 朔月鹰
На недельку до второго $4.99 26 100% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) UrbanWanderer
Digital Anima: Virtual Lifeform Care Kit $4.39 20 75% 600 $2.6k (exactly $2,634) dankhearts, 双異典

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