Do I ship it?

Games › Physics › Physics + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Physics Hidden Object?

Physics + Hidden Object

Of 162 developers who shipped a Physics 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.. 157 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $180. Revenue is up 140% on the market; 157 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 140% on the market, 157 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Physics + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 162
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $599 → $299 → $748 → $449 → $891 → $299 (still earning) → $1.9k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Physics + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 162
Bottom 30% $178 (exactly $178)
Median $600 (exactly $600)
Top 25% $3.0k (exactly $2,992)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $73,828)
Developers, 2 yr 162
Released games 371
Announced 157
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Low
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 140% on the market, supply 40% 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 low: the lowest rating among its tags.

Physics
effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Physics, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Puzzle, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 4,924 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 $600, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 78 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 157 games are announced against 97 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds31 devs · median $8.1k · 30 announced
  2. + Dating SimFair28 devs · median $5.9k · 20 announced
  3. + PinballFair62 devs · median $2.5k · 80 announced
  4. + World War IIFair11 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  5. + Mini GolfFair40 devs · median $1.2k · 44 announced
  6. + GolfFair55 devs · median $987 · 59 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair179 devs · median $718 · 230 announced
  8. + IdlerFair142 devs · median $718 · 167 announced
  9. + CatsFair76 devs · median $599 · 101 announced
  10. + Mystery DungeonFair22 devs · median $539 · 20 announced
  11. + BilliardsFair36 devs · median $538 · 32 announced
  12. + BasketballLong shot19 devs · median $537 · 25 announced

All 251 pairs on the Physics page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Birth 2023 · $1.3M CATO: Buttered Cat 2024 · $921k Sizeable 2021 · $649k My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ 2025 · $382k Machinika: Museum 2021 · $284k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Birth older $10.99 4,003 95% 120k $1.3M (exactly $1,319,789) Madison Karrh
CATO: Buttered Cat older $10.99 2,794 98% 84k $921k (exactly $921,182) Team Woll
Sizeable older $6.99 3,093 97% 93k $649k (exactly $648,602) Business Goose Studios
My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) ⭐ $7.95 1,601 65% 48k $382k (exactly $381,838) Polnoch
Machinika: Museum older $7.99 1,184 91% 36k $284k (exactly $283,805) Littlefield Studio
Disassembly 3D older $29.99 309 81% 9.3k $278k (exactly $278,007) Khor Chin Heong
Peekaboo older $2.99 2,780 79% 83k $249k (exactly $249,366) Redaster Studio
Machinika: Atlas $11.99 574 76% 17k $206k (exactly $206,468) Littlefield Studio
Workshop Simulator older $19.99 284 67% 8.5k $170k (exactly $170,315) INTERMARUM
GlitchSPANKR $19.99 275 96% 8.3k $165k (exactly $164,918) Mahelyk, TheClassifiedX
Space Accident VR $16.99 231 82% 6.9k $118k (exactly $117,741) VR-WRG
Smash Hit Museum $6.99 507 85% 15k $106k (exactly $106,318) InIt Games
Airport X-Ray Simulator · EA $12.99 253 80% 7.6k $99k (exactly $98,594) Rainbow Lab
Japan Stigmatized Property -日本事故物件監視協会- $7.99 360 74% 11k $86k (exactly $86,292) 日本事故物件監視協会
Magic Tiny Lands $29.99 86 90% 2.6k $77k (exactly $77,374) Galactic Geckon
Little Chef: Cozy Cooking $7.99 308 95% 9.2k $74k (exactly $73,828) Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny va… (Julien Truebiger, Erika Zakse, Danny van Duist)
iDigging $2.99 729 69% 22k $65k (exactly $65,391) TWEN

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