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Should I ship a Snow Puzzle game?
Puzzle + Snow
Of 45 developers who shipped a Snow 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.. 39 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 39 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) |
| Top 5% | $35k (exactly $35,088) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 45 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 39 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 10% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Puzzle; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 486 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 32 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 39 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Röki 2020 · $1.5M 
Kona 2017 · $1.3M 
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong 2019 · $233k 
Nancy Drew®: Warnings at Waverly Academy 2010 · $151k 
Relicta 2020 · $140k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Röki | older | $19.99 | 2,452 89% | 74k | $1.5M (exactly $1,470,464) | Polygon Treehouse |
| | Kona | older | $14.99 | 2,795 82% | 84k | $1.3M (exactly $1,256,912) | Parabole |
| | When Ski Lifts Go Wrong | older | $14.99 | 519 87% | 16k | $233k (exactly $233,394) | Hugecalf Studios |
| | Nancy Drew®: Warnings at Waverly Academy | older | $14.99 | 335 90% | 10k | $151k (exactly $150,650) | HeR Interactive |
| | Relicta | older | $19.99 | 234 76% | 7.0k | $140k (exactly $140,330) | Mighty Polygon |
 | Nancy Drew®: Sea of Darkness | older | $19.99 | 213 92% | 6.4k | $128k (exactly $127,736) | HeR Interactive |
 | Path of Giants | older | $8.99 | 410 97% | 12k | $111k (exactly $110,577) | Journey Bound Games |
 | SNOW BROS. 2 SPECIAL | $34.99 | 80 70% | 2.4k | $84k (exactly $83,976) | CRT GAMES | |
 | Ballex²: The Hanging Gardens | $14.99 | 179 95% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Mushreb Games | |
 | Hidden Paws | older | $2.99 | 875 84% | 26k | $78k (exactly $78,488) | Manic Hyena |
 | Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | $29.99 | 39 69% | 1.2k | $35k (exactly $35,088) | Headless Chicken Games | |
 | Darkway: Murder of King Mere | $7.99 | 78 97% | 2.3k | $19k (exactly $18,697) | IM/MORTAL Studios, Pierce Papke / Ekpap | |
 | LINK Penguins | $5.99 | 31 87% | 930 | $5.6k (exactly $5,571) | lemorion_1224 | |
 | Homeostasis | $8.99 | 20 85% | 600 | $5.4k (exactly $5,394) | Gasimo, Saas | |
 | Snow Bros Classic Collection | $14.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $3.6k (exactly $3,598) | Headless Chicken Games, Toaplan | |
 | Ursid | $4.99 | 24 100% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | gamesnhalam, Umer Gameworks | |
 | Whelm | · EA | $11.99 | 8 87% | 240 | $2.9k (exactly $2,878) | Lesser Games |
 | Need For Scream | $4.99 | 19 68% | 570 | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) | Beshbarmak games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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