Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Action-Adventure?
Action-Adventure + Hidden Object
Of 361 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Action-Adventure 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.. 497 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, ×0.8 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $29k, ×46 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 497 games are announced against 179 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $480 (exactly $480) |
| Top 25% | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 5% | $29k (exactly $29,063) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 361 |
| Released games | 966 |
| Announced | 497 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 flat on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action-Adventure
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Action-Adventure, Hidden Object; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 7,690 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 222 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 497 games are announced against 179 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action-Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + BikesFair
- + TransportationFair
- + MotorbikeFair
- + TypingLong shot
- + Time AttackLong shot
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | In Sound Mind | older | $34.99 | 5,467 95% | 164k | $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) | We Create Stuff |
| | Echoes of the Living | · EA | $24.99 | 1,005 83% | 30k | $753k (exactly $753,448) | MoonGlint Studio |
| | Stonemachia | $19.99 | 1,244 95% | 37k | $746k (exactly $746,027) | Crossfall Games | |
| | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
| | Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot: The First Cases | older | $19.99 | 1,168 76% | 35k | $700k (exactly $700,450) | Blazing Griffin |
| | GYLT | older | $19.99 | 907 95% | 27k | $544k (exactly $543,928) | Haven Media, Parallel Circles |
| | Boo Men | · EA older | $7.99 | 2,088 88% | 63k | $500k (exactly $500,494) | Twisted Corridor👻 |
| | TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight | older | $19.99 | 529 75% | 16k | $317k (exactly $317,241) | Orbital Express |
| | Ghost Janitors | $9.99 | 917 87% | 28k | $275k (exactly $274,825) | Interactive Wave Studio | |
| | Time Lock VR 1 | older | $12.99 | 665 78% | 20k | $259k (exactly $259,150) | WR-VRG |
| | 10 Dead Doves | $24.99 | 195 88% | 5.9k | $146k (exactly $146,192) | Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Mic… (Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Michael Millard) | |
| | CAPTURED | $6.45 | 627 95% | 19k | $121k (exactly $121,324) | Puck Redflix | |
| | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
| | The Last FARMER | $12.99 | 258 56% | 7.7k | $101k (exactly $100,543) | Geekon | |
| | Hachishakusama | 八尺様がいた夏休み | $7.44 | 388 94% | 12k | $87k (exactly $86,602) | Fukachi World | |
| | Frozen Ship | · EA | $19.99 | 142 76% | 4.3k | $85k (exactly $85,157) | Nionetix |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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