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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Hidden Object?
Hidden Object + Interactive Fiction
Of 161 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 213 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×7.5 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $66k, ×562 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 213 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $5.8k (exactly $5,753) |
| Top 5% | $67k (exactly $66,833) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 161 |
| Released games | 469 |
| Announced | 213 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Hidden Object, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Point & Click
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 3,666 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 87 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 213 games are announced against 90 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hidden Object with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Level EditorFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + CatsFair
- + DogsFair
- + RomanceFair
- + FlightFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + SimulationFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Word GameFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery 2021 · $1.9M 
IMMORTALITY 2022 · $1.1M 
When The Past Was Around 2020 · $941k 
Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy 2025 · $631k 
Confidential Killings - A Detective Game 2026 · $322k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery | older | $12.99 | 4,966 94% | 149k | $1.9M (exactly $1,935,250) | Silver Lining Studio |
| | IMMORTALITY | older | $19.99 | 1,768 84% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,060,270) | Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid |
| | When The Past Was Around | older | $7.99 | 3,924 94% | 118k | $941k (exactly $940,583) | Mojiken |
| | Amerzone - The Explorer's Legacy | $39.99 | 526 90% | 16k | $631k (exactly $631,042) | Microids Studio Paris | |
| | Confidential Killings - A Detective Game | $14.99 | 716 76% | 21k | $322k (exactly $321,985) | BRANE, Lorenzo Boni | |
 | True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 2 | older | $9.99 | 804 92% | 24k | $241k (exactly $240,959) | Goblinz Enterprises Ltd |
 | The Star Named EOS | older | $14.99 | 509 94% | 15k | $229k (exactly $228,897) | Silver Lining Studio |
 | Garage: Bad Dream Adventure | older | $19.90 | 364 97% | 11k | $217k (exactly $217,308) | 作場金属製作所 Sakuba Metal Works, SmokymonkeyS |
 | Workshop Simulator | older | $19.99 | 284 67% | 8.5k | $170k (exactly $170,315) | INTERMARUM |
 | Portal of Evil: Stolen Runes Collector's Edition | older | $14.99 | 378 91% | 11k | $170k (exactly $169,987) | 8Floor |
 | Dyping Escape | $9.99 | 544 91% | 16k | $163k (exactly $163,037) | Heaviside Creations | |
 | DDinosaur with Double D's | $6.99 | 771 97% | 23k | $162k (exactly $161,679) | Kud | |
 | The 7th Guest Remake | $19.99 | 241 86% | 7.2k | $145k (exactly $144,528) | Vertigo Games, Exkee | |
 | Real Feel | $19.99 | 170 64% | 5.1k | $102k (exactly $101,949) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time | $17.99 | 146 86% | 4.4k | $79k (exactly $78,796) | Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobe… (Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobee, Kyle Chuang) | |
 | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
 | The Apocalypse Sacrifice | $9.99 | 223 95% | 6.7k | $67k (exactly $66,833) | FOG GAMES | |
 | Detective Dotson | $14.99 | 138 78% | 4.1k | $62k (exactly $62,059) | Masala Games Private Limited |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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