Games › Puzzle Platformer › Puzzle Platformer + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Puzzle Platformer?
Puzzle Platformer + Psychological Horror
Of 131 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror Puzzle Platformer 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.. 178 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $970, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×286 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 178 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $971 (exactly $971) |
| Top 25% | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) |
| Top 5% | $136k (exactly $135,764) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 131 |
| Released games | 362 |
| Announced | 178 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $5.60 |
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 50% on the market, supply 30% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Puzzle Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Puzzle Platformer; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Action
- Price point
- $5.60 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.60.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 86,211 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 82 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 178 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Puzzle Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Life SimFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + SokobanFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Co-op CampaignPoor odds
- + MetroidvaniaPoor odds
- + SwordplayPoor odds
- + Split ScreenPoor odds
- + Hack and SlashPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Split Fiction | $49.99 | 78,378 97% | 2.4M | $118M (exactly $117,543,487) | Hazelight Studios | |
| | Little Nightmares II | older | $29.99 | 50,280 92% | 1.5M | $45M (exactly $45,236,916) | Tarsier Studios |
| | Little Nightmares | older | $19.99 | 52,184 94% | 1.6M | $31M (exactly $31,294,745) | Tarsier Studios |
| | Superliminal | older | $19.99 | 28,428 94% | 853k | $17M (exactly $17,048,272) | Pillow Castle |
| | Firework | older | $9.99 | 41,172 97% | 1.2M | $12M (exactly $12,339,248) | Shiying Studio |
| | In Sound Mind | older | $34.99 | 5,467 95% | 164k | $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) | We Create Stuff |
| | Catherine Classic | older | $19.99 | 8,858 88% | 266k | $5.3M (exactly $5,312,143) | ATLUS |
| | INMOST | older | $14.99 | 5,928 90% | 178k | $2.7M (exactly $2,665,822) | Hidden Layer Games |
| | The Swapper | older | $14.99 | 5,065 93% | 152k | $2.3M (exactly $2,277,730) | Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert,… (Olli Harjola, Otto Hantula, Tom Jubert, Carlo Castellano) |
| | DARQ: Complete Edition | older | $19.99 | 3,575 94% | 107k | $2.1M (exactly $2,143,928) | Unfold Games |
| | Bye Sweet Carole | $24.99 | 1,039 72% | 31k | $779k (exactly $778,938) | Little Sewing Machine | |
| | Scarlet Idol | $7.99 | 2,586 66% | 78k | $620k (exactly $619,864) | 山雨工作室 | |
| | Metro Gravity | $12.99 | 852 92% | 26k | $332k (exactly $332,024) | mrkogamedev | |
| | BOKURA: planet | $5.49 | 1,459 74% | 44k | $240k (exactly $240,297) | tokoronyori | |
| | FUTA RUNNER: Big Dick Edition | $6.99 | 733 66% | 22k | $154k (exactly $153,710) | Evil Boobs Cult | |
| | LOVE ETERNAL | $9.99 | 453 96% | 14k | $136k (exactly $135,764) | brlka | |
| | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
| | Moving Houses | $13.99 | 232 72% | 7.0k | $97k (exactly $97,370) | Gordon Little | |
| | Ayasa: Shadows of Silence | $24.99 | 110 74% | 3.3k | $82k (exactly $82,467) | Aya Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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