Games › Crafting › Crafting + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Crafting Hidden Object?
Crafting + Hidden Object
Of 67 developers who shipped a Crafting 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.. 105 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×1.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×169 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 105 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) |
| Top 5% | $106k (exactly $106,437) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 67 |
| Released games | 176 |
| Announced | 105 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Crafting
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Relaxing, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 4,443 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 39 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 105 games are announced against 39 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
Cozy Grove 2021 · $3.4M 
Last Room 2021 · $857k 
Russian Village Simulator 2023 · $800k 
My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ 2025 · $382k 
Hero of the Kingdom III 2018 · $370k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cozy Grove | older | $14.99 | 7,512 89% | 225k | $3.4M (exactly $3,378,146) | Spry Fox |
| | Last Room | older | $29.99 | 953 73% | 29k | $857k (exactly $857,414) | Quantum Forge Studios |
| | Russian Village Simulator | older | $29.99 | 889 84% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | VD Games, PropilGames |
| | My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ | $7.95 | 1,601 65% | 48k | $382k (exactly $381,838) | Polnoch | |
| | Hero of the Kingdom III | older | $9.99 | 1,234 78% | 37k | $370k (exactly $369,830) | Lonely Troops |
 | Center Station Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 554 87% | 17k | $332k (exactly $332,234) | Nightmare Phoenix |
 | LIFE EFFECT Survival | · EA | $14.99 | 488 85% | 15k | $219k (exactly $219,454) | LIFE EFFECT |
 | Logiart Grimoire | older | $19.99 | 336 94% | 10k | $201k (exactly $201,499) | Jupiter Corporation |
 | Afterinfection | $8.99 | 463 56% | 14k | $125k (exactly $124,871) | RePatrick21 | |
 | Dead District: Survival | older | $9.99 | 415 48% | 12k | $124k (exactly $124,376) | BadBit Games |
 | Digger: Galactic Treasures | $4.99 | 711 87% | 21k | $106k (exactly $106,437) | RainStyle games | |
 | The Last FARMER | $12.99 | 258 56% | 7.7k | $101k (exactly $100,543) | Geekon | |
 | Frozen Ship | · EA | $19.99 | 142 76% | 4.3k | $85k (exactly $85,157) | Nionetix |
 | The Apothecary of Trubiz | $3.99 | 536 94% | 16k | $64k (exactly $64,159) | kinjo, Image Labo | |
 | Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit | $19.99 | 106 89% | 3.2k | $64k (exactly $63,568) | Spry Fox | |
 | Siren's Well | $24.99 | 62 66% | 1.9k | $46k (exactly $46,481) | OneManOnly Studios | |
 | Parking Tycoon 2: Business Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 76 43% | 2.3k | $30k (exactly $29,617) | Geekon |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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