Games › Social Deduction › Social Deduction + Strategy
Should I ship a Strategy Social Deduction game?
Social Deduction + Strategy
Of 48 developers who shipped a Strategy Social Deduction 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.. 99 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, level with the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $690k, ×465 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 99 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $10k (exactly $10,490) |
| Top 5% | $697k (exactly $696,503) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 48 |
| Released games | 113 |
| Announced | 99 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 400% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 29%, 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
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Social Deduction, Strategy; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry PvP, Online Co-Op, Co-op
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Funny, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 27,654 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 99 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Social Deduction with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + SimulationFair
- + PuzzleLong shot
- + Board GameLong shot
- + Survival HorrorPoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + AdventurePoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + PvPPoor odds
- + RPGPoor odds
- + ActionPoor odds
Comparable games
LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M 
Town of Salem 2014 · $4.6M 
Project Winter 2019 · $4.1M 
Deceive Inc. 2023 · $2.9M 
In Silence 2021 · $2.8M | 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 | |
| | Town of Salem | older | $4.99 | 30,882 88% | 926k | $4.6M (exactly $4,623,035) | BlankMediaGames |
| | Project Winter | older | $9.99 | 13,662 84% | 410k | $4.1M (exactly $4,094,501) | Other Ocean Interactive |
| | Deceive Inc. | older | $19.99 | 4,755 84% | 143k | $2.9M (exactly $2,851,574) | Sweet Bandits Studios |
| | In Silence | older | $9.99 | 9,450 75% | 284k | $2.8M (exactly $2,832,165) | Ravenhood Games |
 | The Jackbox Party Pack 6 | older | $29.99 | 2,343 95% | 70k | $2.1M (exactly $2,107,997) | Jackbox Games, Inc. |
 | Dale & Dawson Stationery Supplies | older | $7.99 | 7,792 91% | 234k | $1.9M (exactly $1,867,742) | Striped Panda Studios |
 | Perfect Heist 2 | older | $9.99 | 3,711 94% | 111k | $1.1M (exactly $1,112,187) | yeswecamp |
 | A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,705 71% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,022,488) | Dire Wolf |
 | SpyParty | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,140 77% | 34k | $855k (exactly $854,658) | Chris Hecker, John Cimino |
 | Feign | $4.99 | 5,270 91% | 158k | $789k (exactly $788,919) | Teneke Kafalar | |
 | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
 | Sinister Night 2 | $9.99 | 1,800 86% | 54k | $539k (exactly $539,460) | Bug Inventors | |
 | Scam Line | · EA | $6.99 | 1,088 84% | 33k | $228k (exactly $228,154) | RavenJm |
 | WISE GUYS | · EA | $8.99 | 194 90% | 5.8k | $52k (exactly $52,322) | StonieDude |
 | Villainy | $7.99 | 88 94% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $21,094) | Studio Rend | |
 | 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 |
 | BUNKER: RED FLAG | · EA | $4.99 | 93 79% | 2.8k | $14k (exactly $13,922) | Red Flag Team |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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