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Should I ship a Thriller Word Game?
Word Game + Thriller
Of 26 developers who shipped a Thriller 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×233 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 37 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $955 (exactly $955) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,217) |
| Top 5% | $111k (exactly $110,589) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 37 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Word Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 9,349 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Word Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SurvivalFair
- + TacticalFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LootFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventureFair
- + DetectiveFair
- + Procedural GenerationFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
Comparable games
Homicipher 2024 · $3.3M 
The Chrono Jotter 2021 · $708k 
恋爱绮谭~不存在的夏天~ 2020 · $677k 
Paper Bride 2021 · $487k 
Paper Bride 2 Zangling Village 2022 · $303k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Homicipher | $13.99 | 7,821 96% | 235k | $3.3M (exactly $3,282,474) | 八名木Games | |
| | The Chrono Jotter | older | $11.99 | 1,968 94% | 59k | $708k (exactly $707,890) | Orca Layout |
| | 恋爱绮谭~不存在的夏天~ | older | $8.99 | 2,509 93% | 75k | $677k (exactly $676,677) | Never Knows Best |
| | Paper Bride | older | $7.99 | 2,030 91% | 61k | $487k (exactly $486,591) | HeartBeat Plus |
| | Paper Bride 2 Zangling Village | older | $9.99 | 1,010 91% | 30k | $303k (exactly $302,697) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Paper Bride 3 Unresolved Love | older | $9.99 | 874 92% | 26k | $262k (exactly $261,938) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Paper Bride 5 Two Lifetimes | older | $9.99 | 606 84% | 18k | $182k (exactly $181,618) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | Paper Bride 4 Bound Love | older | $9.99 | 547 77% | 16k | $164k (exactly $163,936) | HeartBeat Plus |
 | 雪之本境S Conspiracy Field: Snow Trap | older | $6.99 | 531 66% | 16k | $111k (exactly $111,351) | SP-time |
 | Paper Bride 6 Nightmare | $9.99 | 369 81% | 11k | $111k (exactly $110,589) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | Paper Bride 7 Lethal Bond | $9.99 | 218 92% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $65,335) | HeartBeat Plus | |
 | Rubbings | $9.99 | 183 87% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $54,845) | 午夜说书人 | |
 | 皎月坠落之时 | $8.99 | 148 79% | 4.4k | $40k (exactly $39,916) | 一朵一朵 | |
 | 咒影 Curse of the Shadow | $3.99 | 285 81% | 8.6k | $34k (exactly $34,114) | 小青蛙妙妙制作组 | |
 | The Kuon Island Nursery Rhyme Murders: Case Notes | $7.99 | 82 54% | 2.5k | $20k (exactly $19,655) | Renka | |
 | LakeLady | $7.99 | 76 80% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $18,217) | HungerWhale Games | |
 | 翎之歌 | $6.99 | 83 89% | 2.5k | $17k (exactly $17,405) | YuKi制作组, 崩溃猛犸 | |
 | Curse or Love | $4.49 | 84 90% | 2.5k | $11k (exactly $11,315) | 小橘子糖_official |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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