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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Hidden Object?
Choose Your Own Adventure + Hidden Object
Of 130 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Hidden Object 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.. 181 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $980, ×8.2 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $74k, ×626 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 181 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $980 (exactly $980) |
| Top 25% | $5.1k (exactly $5,147) |
| Top 5% | $74k (exactly $74,479) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 130 |
| Released games | 336 |
| Announced | 181 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 10% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Choose Your Own Adventure, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,008 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 181 games are announced against 69 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choose Your Own Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RhythmStrong odds
- + FMVFair
- + FlightFair
- + SportsFair
- + Word GameFair
- + MilitaryFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + IdlerFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Local MultiplayerFair
- + 3D FighterLong shot
- + NavalPoor odds
Comparable games
Batman - The Telltale Series 2016 · $6.8M 
IMMORTALITY 2022 · $1.1M 
The Witch of Fern Island 2024 · $525k 
√Letter - Root Letter - 2017 · $330k 
Confidential Killings - A Detective Game 2026 · $322k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Batman - The Telltale Series | older | $14.99 | 15,060 87% | 452k | $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) | Telltale |
| | IMMORTALITY | older | $19.99 | 1,768 84% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,060,270) | Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid |
| | The Witch of Fern Island | older | $24.99 | 700 69% | 21k | $525k (exactly $524,790) | Enjoy Studio S.A. |
| | √Letter - Root Letter - | older | $19.99 | 551 78% | 17k | $330k (exactly $330,435) | DRAGAMI GAMES, LTD. |
| | Confidential Killings - A Detective Game | $14.99 | 716 76% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,985) | BRANE, Lorenzo Boni | |
 | How 2 Escape | older | $12.99 | 684 71% | 21k | $267k (exactly $266,555) | Breakfirst Games |
 | True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 2 | older | $9.99 | 804 92% | 24k | $241k (exactly $240,959) | Goblinz Enterprises Ltd |
 | Garage: Bad Dream Adventure | older | $19.90 | 364 97% | 11k | $217k (exactly $217,308) | 作場金属製作所 Sakuba Metal Works, SmokymonkeyS |
 | BLACKSHARD | $14.99 | 432 91% | 13k | $194k (exactly $194,270) | Redlock Studio, Enclave | |
 | DDinosaur with Double D's | $6.99 | 771 97% | 23k | $162k (exactly $161,679) | Kud | |
 | Momento | $19.99 | 225 94% | 6.8k | $135k (exactly $134,932) | Fat Alien Cat, Nomo Studio | |
 | 夏目友人帳 ～葉月の記～ | $49.99 | 77 80% | 2.3k | $115k (exactly $115,477) | Toydium | |
 | Letter Lost | $19.99 | 156 82% | 4.7k | $94k (exactly $93,553) | FlatNine Games | |
 | 30 Birds | $17.99 | 138 96% | 4.1k | $74k (exactly $74,479) | RAM RAM Games, Business Goose Studios | |
 | The Apocalypse Sacrifice | $9.99 | 223 95% | 6.7k | $67k (exactly $66,833) | FOG GAMES | |
 | Our Home | · EA | $12.99 | 133 72% | 4.0k | $52k (exactly $51,830) | Old Hiccup ™ |
 | Ghostwriter Workshop | $10.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $45,169) | 秘密結社マテンロウ計画, Studio Dragonet |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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