Games › Trading › Trading + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Trading Visual Novel?
Trading + Visual Novel
Only 11 developers shipped a Trading Visual Novel 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, NTR LIFE, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $8.3k, ×18 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 17 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $538 (exactly $538) |
| Top 25% | $1.1k (exactly $1,139) |
| Top 5% | $8.4k (exactly $8,379) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $3.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Trading, Visual Novel
- Price point
- $3.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 73% positive over 157 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MiningFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + FlightPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sailing Era | older | $24.99 | 4,565 78% | 137k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,380) | GY Games |
| | Wolf of Stock Street | older | $10.99 | 878 77% | 26k | $289k (exactly $289,477) | 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer |
| | Kardboard Kings: Card Shop Simulator | older | $19.99 | 325 73% | 9.8k | $195k (exactly $194,902) | Henry's House, Oscar Brittain, Rob Gross |
| | Scheming Through The Zombie Apocalypse: The Beginning | older | $4.99 | 322 84% | 9.7k | $48k (exactly $48,203) | Entertainment Forge |
| | Ace Campus Club | older | $14.99 | 36 52% | 1.1k | $16k (exactly $16,189) | ZiX Solutions |
| | The Chronicles of Quiver Dick | older | $2.99 | 173 93% | 5.2k | $16k (exactly $15,518) | Crankage Games |
| | Survive or Thrive | older | $1.99 | 233 98% | 7.0k | $14k (exactly $13,910) | Randumb Studios |
| | The Emerald Tablet | older | $19.99 | 21 57% | 630 | $13k (exactly $12,594) | {uni} |
| | Super Planet Life | older | $9.99 | 36 100% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $10,789) | Northplay |
| | NTR LIFE | $3.99 | 70 74% | 2.1k | $8.4k (exactly $8,379) | Jpegsama | |
| | Casting Clicker | $2.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $5.7k (exactly $5,651) | Inspite | |
| | 逆袭人生 The Underdog Tycoon | $18.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $1.1k (exactly $1,139) | The Underdog Tycoon | |
| | Shop of Deals | $4.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Kenthrix Studios | |
| | Space Pussy Hunter | $6.99 | 3 0% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | Lust Zone Studio | |
| | A Good Deed On Harris Avenue | $2.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $538 (exactly $538) | Daniel H. May | |
| | From Aristocrat's Pet to Culinary Queen: Reigning Over Flavors and Forbidden Desires | $3.29 | 4 25% | 120 | $395 (exactly $395) | Myriad | |
| | All Time High | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | 3Cats Studio | |
| | When It Falls | $1.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $119 (exactly $119) | Team Stargazer | |
| | Femboy Simulator | $4.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Persimmon228 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.