Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Word Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Word Game?

Word Game

Of 607 developers who shipped a 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.. 745 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 1 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×6.8 the market's $120 for a 1 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×1267 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 745 games are announced against 393 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 745 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Word Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 607
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $955 → $1.2k → $1.3k → $1.3k → $1.2k → $599 (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Word Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 607
Bottom 30% $178 (exactly $178)
Median $807 (exactly $807)
Top 25% $6.7k (exactly $6,736)
Top 5% $151k (exactly $150,774)
Developers, 2 yr 607
Released games 1,712
Announced 745
Effort 1 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 40% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Word Game
effort 1 / 10 · high · dictionary logic and simple UI

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
1 / 10 · text and UI only
Systems
Word Game
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.50 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.50 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 56,284 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $810, 1 in 4 over $6.7k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 319 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 745 games are announced against 393 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Word Game

29 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Word Game + Detective Fair $1.3k 82 devs
  2. Word Game + Nature Fair $1.0k 12 devs
  3. Word Game + Psychological Fair $779 36 devs
  4. Word Game + Dystopian Poor odds $23k 12 devs
  5. Word Game + LGBTQ+ Poor odds $11k 38 devs
  6. Word Game + Crime Poor odds $8.7k 14 devs
  7. Word Game + Psychological Horror Poor odds $5.4k 64 devs
  8. Word Game + Romance Poor odds $5.2k 91 devs
  9. Word Game + Supernatural Poor odds $4.9k 14 devs
  10. Word Game + Female Protagonist Poor odds $3.6k 92 devs
  11. Word Game + Mythology Poor odds $2.1k 17 devs
  12. Word Game + Mystery Poor odds $1.9k 101 devs
  13. Word Game + Noir Poor odds $1.7k 19 devs
  14. Word Game + Magic Poor odds $1.6k 31 devs
  15. Word Game + Artificial Intelligence Poor odds $1.3k 38 devs
  16. Word Game + Fantasy Poor odds $1.2k 77 devs
  17. Word Game + Horror Poor odds $1.2k 46 devs
  18. Word Game + Cats Poor odds $1.1k 15 devs
  19. Word Game + Thriller Poor odds $955 26 devs
  20. Word Game + Medieval Poor odds $719 17 devs
  21. Word Game + Historical Poor odds $629 43 devs
  22. Word Game + Sci-fi Poor odds $597 35 devs
  23. Word Game + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $539 13 devs
  24. Word Game + Alternate History Poor odds $240 19 devs
  25. Word Game + Modern Poor odds $150 23 devs
  26. Word Game + Futuristic Dead $360 15 devs
  27. Word Game + Cyberpunk Dead $300 11 devs
  28. Word Game + Post-apocalyptic Dead $179 11 devs
  29. Word Game + Space Dead $119 13 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Chants of Sennaar 2023 · $18M The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty 2024 · $15M Word Game 2022 · $6.2M Cyber Manhunt 2021 · $4.4M 月に寄りそう乙女の作法 2022 · $4.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Chants of Sennaar older $19.99 30,416 98% 912k $18M (exactly $18,240,475) Rundisc
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty older $9.99 49,765 94% 1.5M $15M (exactly $14,914,570) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Word Game older $34.99 5,930 93% 178k $6.2M (exactly $6,224,721) Team9
Cyber Manhunt older $9.99 14,520 92% 436k $4.4M (exactly $4,351,644) Aluba Van+
月に寄りそう乙女の作法 older $39.99 3,462 97% 104k $4.2M (exactly $4,153,361) Navel
The Jackbox Party Pack 7 older $29.99 4,001 96% 120k $3.6M (exactly $3,599,700) Jackbox Games, Inc.
Homicipher $13.99 7,821 96% 235k $3.3M (exactly $3,282,474) 八名木Games
Far Away older $12.99 7,598 94% 228k $3.0M (exactly $2,960,941) Gratesca
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)
Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring older $13.99 6,310 95% 189k $2.6M (exactly $2,648,307) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Mandate Of Heaven $14.99 5,446 91% 163k $2.4M (exactly $2,449,066) 木焱工作室
Sweet Home $7.99 9,910 94% 297k $2.4M (exactly $2,375,427) 开心茶房
The Séance of Blake Manor $19.99 3,683 95% 110k $2.2M (exactly $2,208,695) Spooky Doorway
Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator $12.99 5,191 92% 156k $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) Aluba Van+
Matchmaking Inc. $8.99 5,773 87% 173k $1.6M (exactly $1,556,978) Wave Games
月华辉映之刻 $11.99 4,227 89% 127k $1.5M (exactly $1,520,452) 侠客狗工作室
灾厄黑龙与谎言公主 $9.99 3,682 90% 110k $1.1M (exactly $1,103,495) 莓夜工作室
S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH $13.99 2,324 90% 70k $975k (exactly $975,383) U0U Games

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.