Do I ship it?

GamesWord GameWord Game + Romance

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Romance Word Game?

Word Game + Romance

Of 91 developers who shipped a Romance 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.. 134 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.2k, ×44 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×3987 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 134 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 44.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 134 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Word Game + Romance
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 91
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $12k → $2.6k → $1.8k → $4.8k → $26k → $2.6k → $6.5k (still earning) → $1.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Word Game + Romance: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 91
Bottom 30% $1.5k (exactly $1,455)
Median $5.2k (exactly $5,242)
Top 25% $38k (exactly $38,381)
Top 5% $474k (exactly $474,438)
Developers, 2 yr 91
Released games 232
Announced 134
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $6.99

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 35% on the market, supply 90% 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
Romance
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Word Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Interactive Fiction, RPG
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 26,567 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.5k, median $5.2k, 1 in 4 over $38k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty older $9.99 49,765 94% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,914,570) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall $11.99 8,227 58% 247k $3.0M (exactly $2,959,252) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring older $13.99 6,310 95% 189k $2.6M (exactly $2,648,307) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Matchmaking Inc. $8.99 5,773 87% 173k $1.6M (exactly $1,556,978) Wave Games
月华辉映之刻 $11.99 4,227 89% 127k $1.5M (exactly $1,520,452) 侠客狗工作室
Our End of the World older $9.99 4,453 79% 134k $1.3M (exactly $1,334,564) 橘子班, 大好网
风信楼 older $11.99 3,423 94% 103k $1.2M (exactly $1,231,253) Pingfang Games
灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 $9.99 3,682 90% 110k $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) 莓夜工作室
7 Days to End with You older $7.99 3,327 87% 100k $797k (exactly $797,482) Lizardry
恋爱绮谭 不存在的真相 older $13.99 1,831 93% 55k $768k (exactly $768,471) Never Knows Best
V-LOVER! $10.99 1,439 89% 43k $474k (exactly $474,438) Hentopia
Mr Right Simulator $12.99 724 94% 22k $282k (exactly $282,143) 男神模拟器工作室
错过的暑假可以放第二次吗? $6.99 1,229 99% 37k $258k (exactly $257,721) 麻溜完结制作组
NICE TO MEET YOU, AGAIN $24.99 334 97% 10k $250k (exactly $250,400) Purple Software
纸上的魔法使 $29.99 213 89% 6.4k $192k (exactly $191,636) UGUISUKAGURA
Only You $6.99 719 94% 22k $151k (exactly $150,774) 忘雪社

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