Do I ship it?

Games › Beat 'em up › Beat 'em up + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Beat 'em up?

Beat 'em up + Hidden Object

Only 13 developers shipped a Hidden Object Beat 'em up in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Don't Crash, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $240 in the last 2 years and $420 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 5 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 1660% on the market, 5 announced, ×0.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Beat 'em up + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 13
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $955 → $299 → $240 → $1.8k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Beat 'em up + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 13
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $240 (exactly $240)
Top 25% $1.2k (exactly $1,166)
Top 5% $10k (exactly $10,180)
Developers, 2 yr 13
Released games 46
Announced 5
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 up 1660% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Beat 'em up
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Beat 'em up, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Bullet Time, Character Customization
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 9 games average 90% positive over 116 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $240, 1 in 4 over $1.1k, 1 in 20 over $10k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 5 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Beat 'em up with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LGBTQ+Fair14 devs · median $76k · 13 announced
  2. + RhythmFair17 devs · median $4.5k · 15 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair25 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  4. + Score AttackFair36 devs · median $539 · 41 announced
  5. + IncrementalFair11 devs · median $537 · 8 announced
  6. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $416 · 19 announced
  7. + NinjaLong shot29 devs · median $359 · 30 announced
  8. + Combat RacingLong shot15 devs · median $89 · 15 announced
  9. + Character Action GamePoor odds12 devs · median $58k · 37 announced
  10. + LootPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 29 announced
  11. + Co-opPoor odds74 devs · median $11k · 125 announced
  12. + Online Co-OpPoor odds45 devs · median $11k · 71 announced

All 126 pairs on the Beat 'em up page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

爆裂！スイーツランド - PANIC IN SWEETS LAND - 2023 · $18k Platypus Adventures 2022 · $10k Don't Crash 2026 · $10k The Underground Man 2 2022 · $9.9k Тёмное отражение (Dark Reflection) 2020 · $8.8k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
爆裂！スイーツランド - PANIC IN SWEETS LAND - older $24.99 24 66% 720 $18k (exactly $17,993) Sonic Powered Co.,Ltd.
Platypus Adventures older $19.99 17 100% 510 $10k (exactly $10,195) Figtree Digital
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio
The Underground Man 2 older $2.49 132 84% 4.0k $9.9k (exactly $9,860) Mehsoft
Тёмное отражение (Dark Reflection) older $4.99 59 91% 1.8k $8.8k (exactly $8,832) Slay Buherman
Poop Spotter ~ The game to improve the quality of poop~ older $2.99 46 95% 1.4k $4.1k (exactly $4,126) EXO Games
Prop Sumo $9.99 13 84% 390 $3.9k (exactly $3,896) Barrel Roll Games
DYNABLASTER older $19.99 5 80% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) BBG Entertainment GmbH
Gasnator older $4.99 18 72% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software, NTStudi… (Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software, NTStudios)
The Black Knight older $2.99 29 65% 870 $2.6k (exactly $2,601) Over Games
RAGING BILL $19.99 3 66% 90 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) ARTPUNK STUDIO
Big Theft Valkeala 3 Revenge $2.99 13 76% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software
Hard as Hell $0.99 14 85% 420 $416 (exactly $416) L4S Games, KAPPIRE
OESM - Sacred Story $9.99 1 100% 30 $300 (exactly $300) CDIS Lab.
Dark 4799 $7.99 1 100% 30 $240 (exactly $240) Nikola Krizic
BlackLaceAssassins $1.99 2 50% 60 $119 (exactly $119) VirtualDelightsPro
Entities $1.99 1 0% 30 $60 (exactly $60) Danilo Willian
Angela Is A Bitxx $9.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Primary Chicken Studio

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.