All this analysis is also available as a blog 👉 buff.ly/UwN3If4

If you've made a Christmas game we would love for you to share your Christmas #gamedev experience with us. Otherwise, we hope your enjoy the content!

And we found some super inspiring outliers that we would recommend checking out:
🎄 Everybody Wham Wham (buff.ly/Hi6vmDn)
🎄 SantaCraft (buff.ly/1uWDCGG)
🎄 No More Snow (buff.ly/5PTNZkA)
🎄 Snowball! (buff.ly/X01pZV7)

It was really interesting. Christmas games are a tough market but that is not because Christmas games are saturated amongst particular genres or mechanics, it is actually a really diverse market.

Congratulations! Fantastic Findings look amazing btw. That Xmas goose ❤️ I hope the article didn't come across too negative. We want to help indies realise it's important to celebrate wins of all sizes, it's just all about building healthy perspectives

If you're a #gamedev #sologamedev or #indiegames enthusiast who wants to see what other unique titles are defying market trends, check out the full Outlier Leaderboard here:
www.game-oracle.com/leaderboards...

Additional shout out to @bippinbits.bsky.social for a great talk at devcom. Was really inspirational to see such an analytical approach to testing game ideas and really vibed with me as a data nerd

What makes it truly unique is the tactile, claustrophobic atmosphere. You aren't just clicking enemies; you're pushing chunky buttons, pulling levers, drinking tea, and questioning whether the orders you're following are actually "good."

PVKK currently holds the top spot on our Outlier Leaderboard —it’s effectively in a league of its own. You play as a bunker operator for an autocratic regime, manually operating a massive defense cannon. Think "Papers, Please" meets "Steel Battalion."

If you’re a #gamedev #sologamedev #indiegamedev or #indiegames fan hunting for inspiration from truly unique games, check out more picks on our Outlier Leaderboard: www.game-oracle.com/leaderboards...

On top of that, ENCHAIN is structured more like a Metroidvania/Soulslike, with a single intertwined underworld you loop back through as you unlock new routes, shortcuts, and secrets rather than a simple linear level list.

What makes ENCHAIN really stand out is its Lantern Hook: a chained lantern you use to grapple, swing, impale enemies and then juggle their bones through the air while weaving in kicks and gunfire.

ENCHAIN currently sits at No.5 on our Outlier Leaderboard, putting it firmly in the top 1% of the most unique games on Steam according to our market saturation score. That low sat score reflects how few games are doing anything similar in this space of #retro #FPS movement shooters

If you're a #gamedev #sologamedev #indiegamedev that wants to see more outliers for inspiration/research then checkout our Outlier Leaderboard 👉 www.game-oracle.com/leaderboards...

I think what is really unique is the merging of turn-based “time only moves when you do” roguelike play with a kinetic, physics-driven mining sandbox/puzzle mechanics. I think this is why it has scored such a low saturation score & stands out from the rest #gamedev #indiegames

Dig Dig Boom has a market saturation score of only 1.4/10 meaning it's really unique! The "time only moves when you do" system really draws me and the clean but punchy cartoony art style is totally my jam. Dig Dig Boom currently has ~7K wishlists according to our estimates, but it deserves more!