Should I ship a Text-Based game?
Text-Based
Of 1,662 developers who shipped a Text-Based 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.. 2,063 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 1 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×7.6 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 2,063 games are announced against 1,101 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,651) |
| Top 5% | $101k (exactly $100,716) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 1,662 |
| Released games | 5,045 |
| Announced | 2,063 |
| Effort | 1 / 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 20% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Text-Based
- effort 1 / 10 · high · the game is text and branching logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 1 / 10 · text and UI only
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 50,419 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 847 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,063 games are announced against 1,101 developers who shipped in the last year.
All pairs with Text-Based
No pair with Text-Based has 25 games yet.
Comparable games
NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD 2022 · $26M 
Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! 2021 · $14M 
Firework 2021 · $12M 
Murders on the Yangtze River 2024 · $7.1M 
Suzerain 2020 · $6.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD | older | $15.99 | 54,053 94% | 1.6M | $26M (exactly $25,929,224) | WSS playground, xemono |
| | Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! | older | $14.99 | 30,148 97% | 904k | $14M (exactly $13,557,556) | Team Salvato |
| | Firework | older | $9.99 | 41,172 97% | 1.2M | $12M (exactly $12,339,248) | Shiying Studio |
| | Murders on the Yangtze River | older | $14.99 | 15,833 96% | 475k | $7.1M (exactly $7,120,100) | OMEGAMES STUDIO |
| | Suzerain | older | $19.99 | 10,574 92% | 317k | $6.3M (exactly $6,341,228) | Torpor Games |
 | The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles | older | $39.99 | 5,113 93% | 153k | $6.1M (exactly $6,134,066) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
 | Digimon Survive | older | $59.99 | 3,124 78% | 94k | $5.6M (exactly $5,622,263) | HYDE, Inc. |
 | Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk | older | $8.99 | 20,771 96% | 623k | $5.6M (exactly $5,601,939) | Nikita Kryukov |
 | 60 Seconds! Reatomized | older | $9.99 | 18,362 94% | 551k | $5.5M (exactly $5,503,091) | Robot Gentleman |
 | Citizen Sleeper | older | $19.99 | 8,271 92% | 248k | $5.0M (exactly $4,960,119) | Jump Over The Age |
 | Chill with You : Lo-Fi Story | $11.99 | 12,215 98% | 366k | $4.4M (exactly $4,393,736) | Nestopi Inc. | |
 | Homicipher | $13.99 | 7,821 96% | 235k | $3.3M (exactly $3,282,474) | 八名木Games | |
 | Urban Myth Dissolution Center | $17.99 | 5,930 88% | 178k | $3.2M (exactly $3,200,421) | Hakababunko | |
 | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
 | Summer Pockets REFLECTION BLUE | $49.99 | 1,231 91% | 37k | $1.8M (exactly $1,846,131) | VISUAL ARTS/Key | |
 | Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector | $24.99 | 2,358 91% | 71k | $1.8M (exactly $1,767,793) | Jump Over The Age | |
 | PARANORMASIGHT: The Mermaid's Curse | $24.99 | 2,169 95% | 65k | $1.6M (exactly $1,626,099) | Square Enix | |
 | 月华辉映之刻 | $11.99 | 4,227 89% | 127k | $1.5M (exactly $1,520,452) | 侠客狗工作室 | |
 | Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate | $14.00 | 3,275 95% | 98k | $1.4M (exactly $1,375,500) | Xso | |
 | Desktop Explorer | $17.99 | 2,077 96% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,120,957) | Recurring Dream |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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