Do I ship it?

Games › Cooking › Cooking + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Cooking game?

Cooking + Hidden Object

Of 25 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Cooking 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.. 20 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 330% on the market; 20 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 330% on the market, 20 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Cooking + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $809 → $1.8k → $1.0k → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Cooking + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,157)
Top 5% $64k (exactly $64,214)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 44
Announced 20
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $8.99

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 330% on the market, supply 10% 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Cooking
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Cooking, Hidden Object; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Point & Click, Puzzle, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Relaxing, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 635 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $1.0k, 1 in 4 over $2.1k, 1 in 20 over $64k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 20 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorFair54 devs · median $14k · 68 announced
  2. + DogsFair12 devs · median $8.1k · 12 announced
  3. + Turn-Based CombatFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  4. + Point & ClickFair68 devs · median $1.8k · 79 announced
  5. + LogicFair27 devs · median $1.6k · 26 announced
  6. + Score AttackFair28 devs · median $1.4k · 30 announced
  7. + PuzzleFair77 devs · median $958 · 92 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligencePoor odds15 devs · median $73k · 10 announced
  9. + JRPGPoor odds13 devs · median $34k · 25 announced
  10. + LGBTQ+Poor odds16 devs · median $30k · 32 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds12 devs · median $26k · 23 announced
  12. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds19 devs · median $24k · 29 announced

All 95 pairs on the Cooking page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Nancy Drew®: Warnings at Waverly Academy 2010 · $151k Little Chef: Cozy Cooking 2026 · $74k UMAMI 2025 · $64k Cook For Love 2024 · $16k Kitchen Simulator 2 2017 · $12k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Nancy Drew®: Warnings at Waverly Academy older $14.99 335 90% 10k $151k (exactly $150,650) HeR Interactive
Little Chef: Cozy Cooking $7.99 308 95% 9.2k $74k (exactly $73,828) Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny va… (Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny van Duist)
UMAMI $13.99 153 98% 4.6k $64k (exactly $64,214) Mimmox
Cook For Love $15.99 33 51% 990 $16k (exactly $15,830) RedDeer.Games
Kitchen Simulator 2 older $4.99 80 48% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,976) WhackAKey Games
Witch’s Seed: Goblin Slave Alchemy $4.99 62 75% 1.9k $9.3k (exactly $9,281) Lunar Kiss Games
Green Valley County $9.99 18 55% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Home Studio Games
69 Penny Hot older $4.99 34 94% 1.0k $5.1k (exactly $5,090) Loolust
Cocktail Rush older $9.99 15 60% 450 $4.5k (exactly $4,496) Piece Of Voxel
Shawarma or Shaverma older $9.99 14 85% 420 $4.2k (exactly $4,196) Stas Paty9mkin
Messy Recipe: A Hidden Object Game $2.99 36 91% 1.1k $3.2k (exactly $3,229) DarZal Games
Drug Farmer Simulator · EA $7.99 9 11% 270 $2.2k (exactly $2,157) GOOSE GAME
Undefined Survivors -アンディファインド サバイバーズ- · EA $29.99 2 0% 60 $1.8k (exactly $1,799) Runpath Inc.
FOOD TRUCK SHOP SIMULATOR $4.99 10 40% 300 $1.5k (exactly $1,497) Bodiroga Pavle
Home Rescue: Clean and Restore Collector's Edition $11.99 4 0% 120 $1.4k (exactly $1,439) Avi Games

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