Games › Social Deduction › Social Deduction + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Social Deduction game?
Social Deduction + Puzzle
Only 15 developers shipped a Puzzle Social Deduction game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, LOCKDOWN Protocol, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced.
Verdict: long shot, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×0.6 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, but 1 in 20 cleared $4.9M, ×3322 the market median. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 22 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $14k (exactly $14,469) |
| Top 5% | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 550% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Social Deduction
- effort 7 / 10 · low · online lobbies, voice or chat, live player base
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Social Deduction, Puzzle; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Strategy, Online Co-Op
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 17,941 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 22 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Social Deduction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Board GameLong shot
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M 
In Silence 2021 · $2.8M 
Scam Line 2026 · EA · $228k 
Killer: Infected One of Us 2021 · $41k 
Who's Next? 2026 · $18k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | LOCKDOWN Protocol | $9.99 | 16,605 86% | 498k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) | Mirage Creative Lab | |
| | In Silence | older | $9.99 | 9,450 75% | 284k | $2.8M (exactly $2,832,165) | Ravenhood Games |
| | Scam Line | · EA | $6.99 | 1,088 84% | 33k | $228k (exactly $228,154) | RavenJm |
| | Killer: Infected One of Us | older | $6.99 | 196 52% | 5.9k | $41k (exactly $41,101) | DreamTeamGames |
| | Who's Next? | $4.99 | 123 87% | 3.7k | $18k (exactly $18,413) | HellAssociation | |
 | Cheater's Table | · EA | $6.99 | 69 95% | 2.1k | $14k (exactly $14,469) | Lagari |
 | Dungeon Tells | $7.99 | 32 75% | 960 | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) | Ace Benoff | |
 | Similo: The Card Game | older | $2.99 | 36 63% | 1.1k | $3.2k (exactly $3,229) | Horrible Guild |
 | Silly Suspects | · EA | $7.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | Classy Games |
 | FINIS | older | $10.99 | 8 75% | 240 | $2.6k (exactly $2,638) | k148 Game Studio |
 | Deep Dark Space | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Just Making Games | |
 | Wolftown | $9.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Portponky | |
 | Prison Gambit | · EA | $5.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $898 (exactly $898) | Wolven Games |
 | Vanova's Stories | $19.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $600 (exactly $600) | Madgik Yarn Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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