Games › Grand Strategy › Grand Strategy + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Grand Strategy?
Grand Strategy + Hidden Object
Only 6 developers shipped a Hidden Object Grand Strategy in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Loot of Idle, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 7 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $180 against a market of $1.5k. 13 games are announced.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $179 (exactly $179) |
| Top 25% | $239 (exactly $239) |
| Top 5% | $2.0k (exactly $1,970) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 6 |
| Released games | 30 |
| Announced | 13 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 140% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Grand Strategy
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Grand Strategy, Hidden Object
- Price point
- $3.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 57% positive over 439 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 13 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Grand Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RoguelikeFair
- + SportsFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + CrimeFair
- + RacingFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceLong shot
- + TabletopLong shot
- + Turn-BasedPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kingdom of Wreck Business | older | $9.99 | 127 31% | 3.8k | $38k (exactly $38,062) | WarZoneLab |
| | Waiting For The Raven | older | $14.99 | 61 77% | 1.8k | $27k (exactly $27,432) | Musclebird |
| | Lost Angel | older | $19.99 | 43 58% | 1.3k | $26k (exactly $25,787) | Dolphin media, Intofeel Company |
| | Freight Simulator | older | $5.99 | 48 52% | 1.4k | $8.6k (exactly $8,626) | New Games Waves, Softwaves |
| | Gold Rush! Classic | older | $2.99 | 77 87% | 2.3k | $6.9k (exactly $6,907) | The Software Farm, Sunlight Games, Sier… (The Software Farm, Sunlight Games, Sierra Entertainment) |
| | Ma3 | older | $9.99 | 13 69% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | Matheesan, Ahila |
| | Mystery Box 4: The Journey | older | $6.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | XSGames |
| | Loot of Idle | $1.99 | 33 48% | 990 | $2.0k (exactly $1,970) | DarkRook Interactive | |
| | Don't blame you | older | $2.99 | 18 44% | 540 | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) | HKGamesStudio |
| | Odd Machines: Mechanical Boxes | $5.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | XSGames | |
| | The Da Vinci Cryptex 5 | $3.99 | 2 50% | 60 | $239 (exactly $239) | XSGames | |
| | Super Silent Sensei | $2.99 | 2 0% | 60 | $179 (exactly $179) | Elmeryn Studios | |
| | WayPoint | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | GGA-S | |
| | The Da Vinci Cryptex 4 | $3.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | XSGames | |
| | Hotel Security | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Gyoddam Games | |
| | The Secret of Island of Fear | $10.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Hamza sonay, Yusuf sonay, Mustafa baş |
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.