Do I ship it?

Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Gothic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Gothic Hidden Object?

Hidden Object + Gothic

Of 24 developers who shipped a Gothic 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.. 28 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $59k, ×125 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 28 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 28 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hidden Object + Gothic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.0k → $599 → $1.4k → $2.4k → $1.3k → $718 → $299 (still earning) → $3.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hidden Object + Gothic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,194)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,565)
Top 5% $59k (exactly $59,360)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 65
Announced 28
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $3.99

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 50% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 3%, 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
Gothic
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Investigation
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Dark, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 68% positive over 893 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $59k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

The 7th Guest Remake 2026 · $145k Contract With The Devil 2015 · $109k Dracula: Love Kills 2013 · $89k Riddlewood Manor 2025 · $59k Welcome to Doll Town 2026 · $53k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The 7th Guest Remake $19.99 241 86% 7.2k $145k (exactly $144,528) Vertigo Games, Exkee
Contract With The Devil older $14.99 243 71% 7.3k $109k (exactly $109,277) AZ-Art Development Studio
Dracula: Love Kills older $9.99 298 80% 8.9k $89k (exactly $89,311) Waterlily Games
Riddlewood Manor $14.99 132 93% 4.0k $59k (exactly $59,360) Peanut Button
Welcome to Doll Town $4.99 351 42% 11k $53k (exactly $52,545) Bad Wish Games
Hidden Paws Mystery older $4.99 290 93% 8.7k $43k (exactly $43,413) Manic Hyena
Witch 2 Hell Adventure older $7.99 156 89% 4.7k $37k (exactly $37,393) Towndarktales
Witch 3 Return older $8.99 88 87% 2.6k $24k (exactly $23,734) Towndarktales
The Gravedigger older $9.99 71 74% 2.1k $21k (exactly $21,279) Authogin
Crowhille - Detective Case Files VR older $5.99 90 88% 2.7k $16k (exactly $16,173) Saturn VR, NipsApp Gaming Software
RUNT $9.99 49 79% 1.5k $15k (exactly $14,685) Grimtaste Studios
The Curse We Made $3.99 59 88% 1.8k $7.1k (exactly $7,062) Potion Pixel
宽恕我（Show me mercy） $6.99 17 70% 510 $3.6k (exactly $3,565) Evelita Studio
Gloomy Tales: Hotel Frightsylvania Collector’s Edition $8.99 9 44% 270 $2.4k (exactly $2,427) Do Games Limited
World horror story · EA $6.99 10 50% 300 $2.1k (exactly $2,097) Chechulin Maxim
Money Theft $4.99 13 76% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka
Assassin Of Goblin $3.99 12 66% 360 $1.4k (exactly $1,436) Saylor Games

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