Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object City Builder?

City Builder + Hidden Object

Only 16 developers shipped a Hidden Object City Builder 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, holoVillage: Our Cozy Days, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 20 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $540. Revenue is up 275% on the market; 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 275% on the market, 20 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.1k → $3.2k → $20k → $1.0k → $3.6k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $8.6k (exactly $8,629)
Top 5% $388k (exactly $388,345)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 59
Announced 20
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 275% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

City Builder
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
City Builder, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Building, Crafting
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 785 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $8.6k, 1 in 20 over $380k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  5. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  6. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  7. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  8. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  9. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  10. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  11. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds40 devs · median $71k · 85 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Minami Lane 2024 · $912k holoVillage: Our Cozy Days 2026 · $388k Parking Tycoon 2: Business Simulator 2026 · EA · $30k Townframe 2024 · $22k Portobugia 2024 · $20k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Minami Lane older $4.99 6,089 97% 183k $912k (exactly $911,523) Blibloop, Doot
holoVillage: Our Cozy Days $24.99 518 83% 16k $388k (exactly $388,345) Roboqlo
Parking Tycoon 2: Business Simulator · EA $12.99 76 43% 2.3k $30k (exactly $29,617) Geekon
Townframe $6.99 106 94% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,228) norrimo
Portobugia older $7.99 84 83% 2.5k $20k (exactly $20,135) Bogland Studio
Island Cities - Jigsaw Puzzle older $1.99 214 95% 6.4k $13k (exactly $12,776) Mens Sana Interactive
The Last City older $4.99 58 62% 1.7k $8.7k (exactly $8,683) Tremmi Publishing
FolkOrigin $7.99 36 88% 1.1k $8.6k (exactly $8,629) LukaszD
Tales of Lagoona older $7.99 23 95% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) Playcademy
Feelin · EA older $6.99 19 42% 570 $4.0k (exactly $3,984) Yuuki Tsuji
Forsaken Valley $9.99 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) KineticFox
ChloroLink $7.99 14 100% 420 $3.4k (exactly $3,356) Laywelin
Monmusu Island $4.99 10 70% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Pjoy Games
Container Terminal Simulator · EA $6.99 6 50% 180 $1.3k (exactly $1,258) Tikam Studio
スローライフサバイバー／SlowLife Survivor $6.99 5 0% 150 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) MIZUBLUE GAMES
Laruaville 17 $12.99 2 100% 60 $779 (exactly $779) LGT SIA

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