The niche at a glance

Interactive Fiction on Steam: 6,898 released games, 1,727 in the last 12 months, 3,844 announced and still unreleased. Of the 3,613 released between three years and 90 days ago, the median has 18 lifetime reviews. 39% of them never reached 10 reviews. Free to play: 13%. Interactive Fiction is a Steam store tag, applied by the developer and refined by players; a game carries several tags at once, so niche counts overlap and do not add up to the size of the Steam catalogue. Data as of .

What releases end up with

lifetime reviews · released 3 years ago to 90 days ago · failures included3,613 releases
p101
p254
median18
p7570
p90339
39% of them never reached 10 reviewsMedian price $5.99 · 13% free-to-play

Releases per year

outcomes count only games released more than 90 days ago, anything newer has not had time to gather reviews
2019
127median 89 · 14% under 10 reviews
2020
350median 40 · 22% under 10 reviews
2021
585median 36 · 23% under 10 reviews
2022
729median 26 · 25% under 10 reviews
2023
809median 29 · 28% under 10 reviews
2024
1,100median 21 · 34% under 10 reviews
2025
1,411median 18 · 38% under 10 reviews
2026
1,439median 12 · 46% under 10 reviews · 487 too fresh

Interactive Fiction × setting: what the pairings end up with

every setting tag shipped with Interactive Fiction at least 5 times · same window× setting× presentation
share reaching 500 reviews, shrunk towards the catalogue · click a row to open the concept
Interactive Fiction ×3 y12 mmedian≥500adjusted vs chancelast hitwho made it
Dinosaurs9322under 2014.9%
ordinary ×0.61356 d
I Wani Hug that Gator!
DDinosaur with Double D's
Dinocop
I Wani Hug that Gator! · DDinosaur with Double D's · Dinocop
Dating Sim8062753814.3% 12%–17%14.1%
cliché ×5.1397 d
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty
Revenge on gold diggers
The NOexistenceN of you AND me
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty · Revenge on gold diggers · The NOexistenceN of you AND me
Historical156452512.2% 8%–18%11.5%
cliché ×1.73166 d
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty
Road to Empress I
The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty · Road to Empress I · The Weeping Swan: Ten Days of the City's Fall
Otome105392612.4% 7%–20%11.5%
cliché ×6.55152 d
A Date with Death
Homicipher
月华辉映之刻
A Date with Death · Homicipher · 月华辉映之刻
Romance8983092911.0% 9%–13%10.9%
cliché ×4.7197 d
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty
Revenge on gold diggers
Until Then
The Hungry Lamb: Traveling in the Late Ming Dynasty · Revenge on gold diggers · Until Then
Fishing11334under 2010.7%
ordinary ×0.42446 d
Wild West Legacy
Loan Shark
Wild West Legacy · Loan Shark
Detective4221321610.7% 8%–14%10.5%
cliché ×4.5798 d
Shift At Midnight
No Case Should Remain Unsolved
The Roottrees are Dead
Shift At Midnight · No Case Should Remain Unsolved · The Roottrees are Dead
World War II13456under 2010.1%
ordinary ×0.68215 d
The Red Pearls Of Borneo
TR-49
The Red Pearls Of Borneo · TR-49
LGBTQ+4451542510.1% 8%–13%10.0%
cliché ×4.42142 d
Until Then
A Date with Death
Road to Empress I
Until Then · A Date with Death · Road to Empress I
Artificial Intelligence155751110.3% 6%–16%9.9%
cliché ×1.81142 d
Road to Empress Ⅱ
S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH
恋爱吗?我家猫会后空翻
Road to Empress Ⅱ · S4U: CITYPUNK 2011 AND LOVE PUNCH · 恋爱吗?我家猫会后空翻
Female Protagonist763269219.7% 8%–12%9.6%
cliché ×2.24142 d
Road to Empress I
Sweet Home
No Case Should Remain Unsolved
Road to Empress I · Sweet Home · No Case Should Remain Unsolved
Robots46121210.9% 5%–23%9.6%
ordinary ×0.51230 d
The Invincible
Caravan SandWitch
我的机器人女友
The Invincible · Caravan SandWitch · 我的机器人女友
Football (Soccer)5240under 209.3%
avoided ×0.26545 d
despelote
despelote
Foxes53103under 209.3%
ordinary ×1.341047 d
Kon's Lesson!
Kon's Lesson!
Crime18963229.5% 6%–15%9.2%
cliché ×3.37104 d
The Operator
The Casting of Frank Stone™
The Rise of the Golden Idol
The Operator · The Casting of Frank Stone™ · The Rise of the Golden Idol
59 pairings cleared 20 releases; 45 more never reached 5 and are not listed. Compared against 6.6% for games that carry any tags at all.

About these numbers

“Adjusted” is the share pulled towards the catalogue with the weight of twenty releases: the top of any ranked list is optimistic (out of a hundred pairings one will show 35 % on 23 releases by luck alone), and the adjustment is what stops a small lucky group from leading. The band next to the raw share is the 95 % interval. This list is the same for everyone today; the second opinion is the description-based one on Pitch comps.