Games › Adventure › Adventure + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Adventure game?
Adventure + Hidden Object
Of 1,096 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Adventure 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.. 1,247 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $93k, ×197 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 1,247 games are announced against 615 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $4.2k (exactly $4,198) |
| Top 5% | $94k (exactly $93,553) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 1,096 |
| Released games | 4,304 |
| Announced | 1,247 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 15% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Adventure
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Adventure, Hidden Object; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Puzzle, Point & Click
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 96% positive over 136,887 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 747 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 1,247 games are announced against 615 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SamuraiFair
- + FMVFair
- + PinballFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + SportsFair
- + GolfFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
Comparable games
MiSide 2024 · $55M 
Fran Bow 2015 · $9.3M 
Batman - The Telltale Series 2016 · $6.8M 
TOEM: A Photo Adventure 2021 · $5.8M 
The Mortuary Assistant 2022 · $5.4M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MiSide | $14.99 | 122,007 97% | 3.7M | $55M (exactly $54,866,548) | AIHASTO | |
| | Fran Bow | older | $14.99 | 20,579 97% | 617k | $9.3M (exactly $9,254,376) | Killmonday Games AB |
| | Batman - The Telltale Series | older | $14.99 | 15,060 87% | 452k | $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) | Telltale |
| | TOEM: A Photo Adventure | older | $19.99 | 9,688 99% | 291k | $5.8M (exactly $5,809,894) | Something We Made |
| | The Mortuary Assistant | older | $24.99 | 7,269 92% | 218k | $5.4M (exactly $5,449,569) | DarkStone Digital |
 | The Room 4: Old Sins | older | $8.99 | 17,806 98% | 534k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,278) | Fireproof Games |
 | The Room | older | $4.99 | 30,421 97% | 913k | $4.6M (exactly $4,554,024) | Fireproof Games |
 | The House of Da Vinci | older | $19.99 | 6,710 85% | 201k | $4.0M (exactly $4,023,987) | Blue Brain Games |
 | Agent A: A puzzle in disguise | older | $19.99 | 5,901 95% | 177k | $3.5M (exactly $3,538,830) | Yak & Co |
 | Hidden Folks | older | $14.99 | 7,611 97% | 228k | $3.4M (exactly $3,422,667) | Hidden Folks |
 | Lost and Found Co. | $17.99 | 2,736 96% | 82k | $1.5M (exactly $1,476,619) | Bit Egg Inc. | |
 | The Artisan of Glimmith | $12.99 | 2,513 97% | 75k | $979k (exactly $979,316) | Lunarch Studios | |
 | Lushfoil Photography Sim | $14.99 | 1,718 91% | 52k | $773k (exactly $772,585) | Matt2 | |
 | 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 | |
 | Approximately Up | $24.99 | 995 93% | 30k | $746k (exactly $745,952) | Approximately Games | |
 | Emissary Zero | $8.99 | 2,683 83% | 80k | $724k (exactly $723,605) | Rone Vine | |
 | The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition | $24.99 | 836 72% | 25k | $627k (exactly $626,749) | Blue Brain Games | |
 | Camper Van: Make it Home | $14.99 | 1,150 91% | 35k | $517k (exactly $517,155) | Malapata Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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