Games › Point & Click › Point & Click + Puzzle
Should I ship a Point & Click Puzzle game?
Point & Click + Puzzle
Of 974 developers who shipped a Point & Click Puzzle 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.. 1,283 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×12 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×1947 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 1,283 games are announced against 594 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,522) |
| Top 5% | $232k (exactly $231,739) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 974 |
| Released games | 4,863 |
| Announced | 1,283 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 50% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Point & Click
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Point & Click, Puzzle; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Investigation
- Price point
- $3.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.50 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.50 or above; the middle game at $3.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 58,854 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 847 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,283 games are announced against 594 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Point & Click with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Party-Based RPGFair
- + Life SimFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + MiningFair
- + CookingFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + Online Co-OpFair
- + Word GameFair
Comparable games
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy 2019 · $32M 
Papers, Please 2013 · $22M 
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc 2016 · $22M 
Unpacking 2021 · $21M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy | older | $29.99 | 35,628 97% | 1.1M | $32M (exactly $32,054,512) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. |
| | Papers, Please | older | $9.99 | 73,406 97% | 2.2M | $22M (exactly $21,999,778) | Lucas Pope |
| | Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc | older | $19.99 | 36,194 96% | 1.1M | $22M (exactly $21,705,542) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction G… (Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd., Abstraction Games) |
| | Unpacking | older | $19.99 | 35,072 93% | 1.1M | $21M (exactly $21,032,678) | Witch Beam |
 | Chants of Sennaar | older | $19.99 | 30,416 98% | 912k | $18M (exactly $18,240,475) | Rundisc |
 | Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter | older | $29.99 | 12,076 80% | 362k | $11M (exactly $10,864,777) | Frogwares |
 | Machinarium | older | $19.99 | 17,552 95% | 527k | $11M (exactly $10,525,934) | Amanita Design |
 | Escape Simulator | older | $19.99 | 16,496 94% | 495k | $9.9M (exactly $9,892,651) | Pine Studio |
 | There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension | older | $12.99 | 24,144 97% | 724k | $9.4M (exactly $9,408,917) | Draw Me A Pixel |
 | The Roottrees are Dead | $19.99 | 9,700 96% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,817,090) | Evil Trout Inc. | |
 | Endacopia | $16.50 | 6,474 99% | 194k | $3.2M (exactly $3,204,630) | Andyland | |
 | Is This Seat Taken? | $9.99 | 9,127 97% | 274k | $2.7M (exactly $2,735,362) | Poti Poti Studio | |
 | Escape Simulator 2 | $19.99 | 4,292 92% | 129k | $2.6M (exactly $2,573,912) | Pine Studio | |
 | Whisper of the House | $14.99 | 5,344 96% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,403,197) | 元气弹工作室(GD Studio) | |
 | The Rise of the Golden Idol | $19.99 | 3,786 92% | 114k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,464) | Color Gray Games | |
 | Cyber Manhunt 2: New World - The Hacking Simulator | $12.99 | 5,191 92% | 156k | $2.0M (exactly $2,022,933) | Aluba Van+ | |
 | Beholder: Conductor | $13.99 | 4,532 91% | 136k | $1.9M (exactly $1,902,080) | Alawar | |
 | Strange Antiquities | $17.99 | 3,288 95% | 99k | $1.8M (exactly $1,774,534) | Bad Viking | |
 | Servant of the Lake | $7.99 | 7,120 98% | 214k | $1.7M (exactly $1,706,664) | Rusty Lake |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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