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Should I ship a Word Game Survival game?
Survival + Word Game
Of 22 developers who shipped a Word Game Survival 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.. 29 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $600. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 29 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.1k (exactly $2,097) |
| Top 25% | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) |
| Top 5% | $697k (exactly $696,503) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 51 |
| Announced | 29 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 25% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival, Word Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Interactive Fiction, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 67% positive over 12,020 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SteampunkPoor odds
Comparable games
The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall 2026 · $3.0M 
DEATH NOTE Killer Within 2024 · $697k 
我来自江湖 From Jianghu 2020 · EA · $667k 
Misty Judgment 2025 · $316k 
Dragon Island 2024 · $54k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 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) | |
| | DEATH NOTE Killer Within | $9.99 | 2,324 84% | 70k | $697k (exactly $696,503) | Grounding Inc. | |
| | 我来自江湖 From Jianghu | · EA older | $9.99 | 2,227 81% | 67k | $667k (exactly $667,432) | Gamexel Studio |
| | Misty Judgment | $8.99 | 1,170 92% | 35k | $316k (exactly $315,549) | 次元边界 | |
| | Dragon Island | older | $15.99 | 113 49% | 3.4k | $54k (exactly $54,206) | Kulplant |
 | Cruel Reality: A horrible dream | older | $29.99 | 38 97% | 1.1k | $34k (exactly $34,189) | Keer&Deem Creations |
 | Nodes Escape | older | $1.99 | 529 85% | 16k | $32k (exactly $31,581) | 夜喵, Allen |
 | Liar Moon Shangri-La | older | $44.99 | 21 57% | 630 | $28k (exactly $28,344) | Rejet |
 | Eternal Sword Tomb | · EA | $8.99 | 68 77% | 2.0k | $18k (exactly $18,340) | 阿郎 |
 | 翎之歌 | $6.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸 | |
 | Typing Ninja | $9.99 | 25 96% | 750 | $7.5k (exactly $7,492) | Brain Boost Ninja | |
 | Runren Simulator | $1.99 | 59 91% | 1.8k | $3.5k (exactly $3,522) | K.K. | |
 | KeyBreach | $4.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | sawworm Games | |
 | Spell Wizard | $2.99 | 25 84% | 750 | $2.2k (exactly $2,242) | Wushed | |
 | Text Escape: Doomsday City | $3.99 | 18 61% | 540 | $2.2k (exactly $2,155) | 齿轮游戏 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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