Games › Creature Collector › Creature Collector + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Creature Collector?
Creature Collector + Hidden Object
Of 86 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Creature Collector 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.. 120 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $870; 1 in 20 cleared $41k, ×67 the market median. Revenue is up 50% on the market; 120 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $861 (exactly $861) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.7k (exactly $1,704) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $3,950) |
| Top 5% | $42k (exactly $41,940) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 86 |
| Released games | 564 |
| Announced | 120 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $1.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Creature Collector
- 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
- Creature Collector, Hidden Object; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Exploration, Point & Click
- Price point
- $1.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Relaxing, Cozy
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 5,217 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $870. 8 in 10 of the 149 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 49 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Creature Collector with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + LootFair
- + IdlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Action RoguelikeFair
- + SpaceFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective | older | $11.99 | 1,902 95% | 57k | $684k (exactly $684,149) | Darjeeling |
| | A Castle Full of Cats | older | $3.99 | 4,073 99% | 122k | $488k (exactly $487,538) | Devcats |
| | A Tower Full of Cats | older | $5.99 | 2,304 99% | 69k | $414k (exactly $414,029) | Devcats |
| | DRAGON QUEST TREASURES | older | $49.99 | 257 77% | 7.7k | $385k (exactly $385,423) | Square Enix, TOSE CO., LTD. |
| | A Building Full of Cats | older | $2.99 | 4,103 98% | 123k | $368k (exactly $368,039) | Devcats |
| | A Building Full of Cats 2 | $6.99 | 1,145 97% | 34k | $240k (exactly $240,106) | Devcats | |
| | A Shelter Full of Cats | $4.99 | 1,152 97% | 35k | $172k (exactly $172,454) | Devcats | |
| | A Planet Full of Cats | $7.99 | 581 89% | 17k | $139k (exactly $139,266) | Devcats | |
| | Travellin Cats Around the World | older | $4.99 | 804 97% | 24k | $120k (exactly $120,359) | Travellin Cats |
| | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
| | Chicken Hill | $2.99 | 1,134 99% | 34k | $102k (exactly $101,720) | 梗立游戏 | |
| | Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit | $19.99 | 106 89% | 3.2k | $64k (exactly $63,568) | Spry Fox | |
| | Dofamine VR | $9.99 | 173 82% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,848) | VR-WRG | |
| | Whisker Wanderlust: The Mosaic of Souls | $4.99 | 340 89% | 10k | $51k (exactly $50,898) | MEOW STORE GAME | |
| | Whisker Wanderlust: The Wondrous Journey | $6.99 | 200 93% | 6.0k | $42k (exactly $41,940) | MEOW STORE GAME | |
| | Ghostbane | · EA | $8.99 | 155 67% | 4.7k | $42k (exactly $41,804) | Pi Bit |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.