Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Life Sim?
Life Sim + Hidden Object
Of 98 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Life Sim 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.. 139 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.0k, ×2.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $480k, ×1021 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 139 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
| Top 25% | $9.7k (exactly $9,742) |
| Top 5% | $485k (exactly $485,153) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 98 |
| Released games | 230 |
| Announced | 139 |
| 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 flat on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Hidden Object; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Management
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, 3D, 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 96% positive over 139,386 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 54 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 139 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
MiSide 2024 · $55M 
Cozy Grove 2021 · $3.4M 
Whisper of the House 2025 · $2.4M 
Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M 
Minami Lane 2024 · $912k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | MiSide | $14.99 | 122,007 97% | 3.7M | $55M (exactly $54,866,548) | AIHASTO | |
| | Cozy Grove | older | $14.99 | 7,512 89% | 225k | $3.4M (exactly $3,378,146) | Spry Fox |
| | Whisper of the House | $14.99 | 5,344 96% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,403,197) | 元气弹工作室(GD Studio) | |
| | Obenseuer | · EA older | $19.99 | 1,684 94% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) | Loiste Interactive |
| | Minami Lane | older | $4.99 | 6,089 97% | 183k | $912k (exactly $911,523) | Blibloop, Doot |
 | Russian Village Simulator | older | $29.99 | 889 84% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | VD Games, PropilGames |
 | Ship, Inc. | $9.99 | 2,168 83% | 65k | $650k (exactly $649,750) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Influent Language Learning Game | older | $19.99 | 973 73% | 29k | $584k (exactly $583,508) | Rob Howland |
 | PANELKI | older | $7.99 | 2,404 86% | 72k | $576k (exactly $576,239) | Alexander Gromyko |
 | [Chilla's Art] The Closing Shift | 閉店事件 | older | $5.99 | 2,963 87% | 89k | $532k (exactly $532,451) | Chilla's Art |
 | Camper Van: Make it Home | $14.99 | 1,150 91% | 35k | $517k (exactly $517,155) | Malapata Studio | |
 | Lost But Found | $6.99 | 2,316 71% | 69k | $486k (exactly $485,665) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Organized Inside | $7.99 | 2,024 94% | 61k | $485k (exactly $485,153) | Meox Studio | |
 | SchoolBoy Runaway | $1.99 | 3,731 90% | 112k | $223k (exactly $222,741) | Linked Squad | |
 | Momento | $19.99 | 225 94% | 6.8k | $135k (exactly $134,932) | Fat Alien Cat, Nomo Studio | |
 | Forest Doesn’t Care | $13.99 | 251 65% | 7.5k | $105k (exactly $105,345) | MOROZ GAMES | |
 | Real Feel | $19.99 | 170 64% | 5.1k | $102k (exactly $101,949) | Entropy Digital Entertainment |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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