Do I ship it?

Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Hidden Object?

Hidden Object + Dystopian

Of 21 developers who shipped a Dystopian 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.. 49 more are announced, ×4.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×212 the market median. Revenue is up 3315% on the market; 49 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 3315% on the market, 49 announced, ×4.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hidden Object + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 21
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $897 → $6.5k → $2.2k → $2.2k → $419 → $3.6k (still earning) → $5.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hidden Object + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 21
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,592)
Top 5% $101k (exactly $100,543)
Developers, 2 yr 21
Released games 88
Announced 49
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 3315% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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.

Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Logic
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 76% positive over 1,406 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 49 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hidden Object with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds17 devs · median $11k · 21 announced
  2. + Level EditorFair12 devs · median $7.6k · 14 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair46 devs · median $3.5k · 41 announced
  4. + CatsFair128 devs · median $1.5k · 160 announced
  5. + DogsFair35 devs · median $1.5k · 18 announced
  6. + RomanceFair60 devs · median $1.5k · 48 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  8. + City BuilderFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  9. + SimulationFair475 devs · median $1.2k · 555 announced
  10. + UnderwaterFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 19 announced
  11. + Word GameFair29 devs · median $1.2k · 26 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair470 devs · median $1.2k · 502 announced

All 188 pairs on the Hidden Object page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deponia 2012 · $3.1M Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M Sunday Gold 2022 · $453k Slice of Sea 2021 · $392k ABYSS OF THE SACRIFICE 2020 · $286k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deponia older $9.99 10,455 87% 314k $3.1M (exactly $3,133,364) Daedalic Entertainment
Obenseuer · EA older $19.99 1,684 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) Loiste Interactive
Sunday Gold older $21.99 687 77% 21k $453k (exactly $453,214) BKOM Studios
Slice of Sea older $24.99 523 90% 16k $392k (exactly $392,093) Mateusz Skutnik
ABYSS OF THE SACRIFICE older $39.99 238 81% 7.1k $286k (exactly $285,529) INTENSE
Machinika: Atlas $11.99 574 76% 17k $206k (exactly $206,468) Littlefield Studio
My Beautiful Paper Smile older $14.99 353 82% 11k $159k (exactly $158,744) Two Star Games
Panoptic older $16.99 281 96% 8.4k $143k (exactly $143,226) Team Panoptes
The Last FARMER $12.99 258 56% 7.7k $101k (exactly $100,543) Geekon
Verne: The Shape of Fantasy older $14.99 221 82% 6.6k $99k (exactly $99,384) Gametopia
Daymare Town $24.99 117 98% 3.5k $88k (exactly $87,715) Mateusz Skutnik
Frozen Ship · EA $19.99 142 76% 4.3k $85k (exactly $85,157) Nionetix
60 Minutes to Extinction: Escape Room $7.99 153 82% 4.6k $37k (exactly $36,674) mc2games
The State of Nowhere $19.99 26 88% 780 $16k (exactly $15,592) Anomaly Works
Ministry of Truth: False Memory $6.99 69 85% 2.1k $14k (exactly $14,469) IKKOSAMA, False Memory Dept.
The Lost Mixtape $4.99 38 97% 1.1k $5.7k (exactly $5,689) Vided Studio
Sp(L/R)ite スプライト $9.99 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Tricore Inc.
Hi! These Are Your Eyeballs $4.99 17 52% 510 $2.5k (exactly $2,545) WolfgangIs

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