Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Hidden Object?
Hidden Object + Psychological
Of 220 developers who shipped a Psychological 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.. 220 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $44k, ×93 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 220 games are announced against 129 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,389) |
| Top 5% | $44k (exactly $44,105) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 220 |
| Released games | 484 |
| Announced | 220 |
| Effort | 3 / 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 down 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, 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
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Walking Simulator
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,235 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 115 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 220 games are announced against 129 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Hidden Object with a different setting or mood, 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
Fran Bow 2015 · $9.3M 
Bad Dream: Coma 2017 · $531k 
Slender Threads 2025 · $344k 
I'm on Observation Duty 6 2023 · $235k 
I'm on Observation Duty 5 2022 · $232k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Fran Bow | older | $14.99 | 20,579 97% | 617k | $9.3M (exactly $9,254,376) | Killmonday Games AB |
| | Bad Dream: Coma | older | $8.99 | 1,968 91% | 59k | $531k (exactly $530,770) | Desert Fox |
| | Slender Threads | $19.99 | 574 90% | 17k | $344k (exactly $344,228) | Blyts | |
| | I'm on Observation Duty 6 | older | $11.99 | 652 94% | 20k | $235k (exactly $234,524) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games |
| | I'm on Observation Duty 5 | older | $9.99 | 775 96% | 23k | $232k (exactly $232,268) | Notovia |
 | Anomaly Exit | older | $5.99 | 1,118 89% | 34k | $201k (exactly $200,905) | ExamlGuy |
 | Leila | $11.99 | 551 86% | 17k | $198k (exactly $198,195) | Ubik Studios | |
 | My Beautiful Paper Smile | older | $14.99 | 353 82% | 11k | $159k (exactly $158,744) | Two Star Games |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 7 | $11.99 | 426 93% | 13k | $153k (exactly $153,232) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games | |
 | マーダーミステリーパラドクス このひと夏の十五年 | older | $19.99 | 249 85% | 7.5k | $149k (exactly $149,325) | 213℉ |
 | 10 Dead Doves | $24.99 | 195 88% | 5.9k | $146k (exactly $146,192) | Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Mic… (Duonix Studios, Mark Byram II, Sean-Michael Millard) | |
 | Aurora Hills: Chapter 2 | $7.99 | 533 98% | 16k | $128k (exactly $127,760) | NovaSoft Interactive Ltd. | |
 | The Anomaly Project | $7.99 | 531 81% | 16k | $127k (exactly $127,281) | Kekdot | |
 | CAPTURED | $6.45 | 627 95% | 19k | $121k (exactly $121,324) | Puck Redflix | |
 | Don't Be Afraid 2 | $16.99 | 201 71% | 6.0k | $102k (exactly $102,450) | Eneida Games, Cat-astrophe Games | |
 | 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 | |
 | I'm on Observation Duty 8 | $11.99 | 237 95% | 7.1k | $85k (exactly $85,249) | Notovia, Dreamloop Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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