Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Roguelite?
Roguelite + Hidden Object
Of 31 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Roguelite 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.. 41 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $200k, ×430 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 5% | $204k (exactly $204,139) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 31 |
| Released games | 76 |
| Announced | 41 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelite
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelite, Hidden Object; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Roguelike, Exploration
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,643 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 41 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelite with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-TimeFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + TypingFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DogsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + DwarvesPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | NO-SKIN | $6.99 | 1,227 95% | 37k | $257k (exactly $257,302) | NoEye-Soft | |
| | Take me, Vitaly | $5.99 | 1,136 98% | 34k | $204k (exactly $204,139) | Старый Билд | |
| | ReRoad | older | $14.99 | 104 74% | 3.1k | $47k (exactly $46,769) | Rabbithole Games |
| | Natsuno-Kanata: Beyond Summer | older | $10.99 | 127 91% | 3.8k | $42k (exactly $41,872) | Kazuhide Oka |
| | Cave Digger 2 Dig Harder | older | $15.99 | 81 88% | 2.4k | $39k (exactly $38,856) | VRKiwi |
| | Minesweeper: Collector | older | $7.99 | 132 88% | 4.0k | $32k (exactly $31,640) | Anton Kryukov |
| | Cave Digger | older | $14.90 | 63 82% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,161) | VRKiwi |
| | 恶魔迷宫 2 |Evil Maze 2 | 惡魔迷宮 2 | older | $9.99 | 85 60% | 2.6k | $25k (exactly $25,474) | ZOV GAME STUDIO |
| | Spectro | older | $14.99 | 49 81% | 1.5k | $22k (exactly $22,035) | Borrowed Light VR |
| | DungeonCrawlers | $8.99 | 77 68% | 2.3k | $21k (exactly $20,767) | KusanohitoCreative | |
| | Spectator 2 | $12.99 | 33 72% | 990 | $13k (exactly $12,860) | Neko Machine, Minechan | |
| | Atrium Mortis | $7.99 | 36 100% | 1.1k | $8.6k (exactly $8,629) | Hectic | |
| | Money And Lady | 财貌双全 | $9.99 | 20 35% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Happy DLC Studio | |
| | Death Sees Twice: Spot the Difference | $2.99 | 64 81% | 1.9k | $5.7k (exactly $5,741) | hirohasu | |
| | Holy Grain | $14.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Darkhunter Studios | |
| | Clueless Crew | · EA | $6.99 | 22 90% | 660 | $4.6k (exactly $4,613) | Ashkandi, Truthkey |
| | Scary Shadow Spot - All In | $7.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $3.8k (exactly $3,835) | Daniele Doesn't Matter |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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