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Should I ship a Conspiracy Hidden Object?
Hidden Object + Conspiracy
Of 27 developers who shipped a Conspiracy 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.. 60 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 60 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $600 (exactly $600) |
| Top 25% | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,741) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 104 |
| Announced | 60 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 65% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
- Conspiracy
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Hidden Object; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Logic
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Stylized, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,812 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 19 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hidden Object with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Level EditorFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + CatsFair
- + DogsFair
- + RomanceFair
- + FlightFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + SimulationFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Word GameFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Confidential Killings - A Detective Game | $14.99 | 716 76% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,985) | BRANE, Lorenzo Boni | |
| | Broken Sword 2 - the Smoking Mirror: Remastered (2010) | older | $5.99 | 1,255 91% | 38k | $226k (exactly $225,524) | Revolution Software Ltd |
| | Tested on Humans: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 434 87% | 13k | $130k (exactly $130,070) | mc2games |
| | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
| | Gordian Rooms 2: A curious island | older | $24.99 | 151 75% | 4.5k | $113k (exactly $113,205) | Crimsonite Games |
| | Nancy Drew®: The Silent Spy | older | $19.99 | 169 89% | 5.1k | $101k (exactly $101,349) | HeR Interactive |
| | Gordian Rooms 1: A curious heritage | older | $5.99 | 524 85% | 16k | $94k (exactly $94,163) | Crimsonite Games |
| | I'm on Observation Duty 8 | $11.99 | 237 95% | 7.1k | $85k (exactly $85,249) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
| | Broken Sword 4 - the Angel of Death (2006) | older | $5.99 | 456 43% | 14k | $82k (exactly $81,943) | Sumo Digital Ltd |
| | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
| | Dofamine VR | $9.99 | 173 82% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,848) | VR-WRG | |
| | LAN Party Adventures | $14.99 | 93 89% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $41,822) | LEAP Game Studios | |
| | The State of Nowhere | $19.99 | 26 88% | 780 | $16k (exactly $15,592) | Anomaly Works | |
| | Dingir OS | $4.99 | 60 85% | 1.8k | $9.0k (exactly $8,982) | SpoocleMacBoogle | |
| | Project Looking Glass | $4.99 | 47 100% | 1.4k | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) | MORPH | |
| | Uninstall Simulator | $2.99 | 38 84% | 1.1k | $3.4k (exactly $3,409) | Thirdpark Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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