Do I ship it?

Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Logic game?

Hidden Object + Logic

Of 253 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Logic game 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.. 252 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $630, ×5.3 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 252 games are announced against 151 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 252 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hidden Object + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 253
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $1.4k → $1.5k → $1.0k → $600 → $599 → $748 (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hidden Object + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 253
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $628 (exactly $628)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,746)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $83,396)
Developers, 2 yr 253
Released games 955
Announced 252
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 up 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
Logic
effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Hidden Object, Logic; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 7,987 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $630, 1 in 4 over $2.7k, 1 in 20 over $83k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 180 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 252 games are announced against 151 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hidden Object with a different second tag, 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

A Little to the Left 2022 · $7.6M Agent A: A puzzle in disguise 2019 · $3.5M The Gardens Between 2018 · $1.4M The House of Da Vinci 2 2020 · $1.2M The Artisan of Glimmith 2026 · $979k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
A Little to the Left older $14.99 16,885 91% 507k $7.6M (exactly $7,593,184) Max Inferno
Agent A: A puzzle in disguise older $19.99 5,901 95% 177k $3.5M (exactly $3,538,830) Yak & Co
The Gardens Between older $19.99 2,362 93% 71k $1.4M (exactly $1,416,491) The Voxel Agents
The House of Da Vinci 2 older $19.99 2,051 90% 62k $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) Blue Brain Games
The Artisan of Glimmith $12.99 2,513 97% 75k $979k (exactly $979,316) Lunarch Studios
Last Room older $29.99 953 73% 29k $857k (exactly $857,414) Quantum Forge Studios
Taiji older $24.99 1,135 92% 34k $851k (exactly $850,910) Matthew VanDevander
The House of Da Vinci 3 older $19.99 1,303 89% 39k $781k (exactly $781,409) Blue Brain Games
The House of Tesla: Definitive Edition $24.99 836 72% 25k $627k (exactly $626,749) Blue Brain Games
The Tiny Bang Story older $4.99 3,809 88% 114k $570k (exactly $570,207) Colibri Games
Granny: Escape Together $9.99 1,661 79% 50k $498k (exactly $497,802) CreepyToad
Find Matt's Cats $19.99 719 98% 22k $431k (exactly $431,184) Matt Roszak
Confidential Killings - A Detective Game $14.99 716 76% 21k $322k (exactly $321,985) BRANE, Lorenzo Boni
Agatha Christie - Death on the Nile $39.99 221 78% 6.6k $265k (exactly $265,134) Microids Studio Lyon
Machinika: Atlas $11.99 574 76% 17k $206k (exactly $206,468) Littlefield Studio
I'm on Observation Duty 7 $11.99 426 93% 13k $153k (exactly $153,232) Notovia, Dreamloop Games
Space Accident VR $16.99 231 82% 6.9k $118k (exactly $117,741) VR-WRG
Tech Blast $39.99 90 92% 2.7k $108k (exactly $107,973) Galactic Geckon

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