Do I ship it?

GamesRPGRPG + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object RPG?

RPG + Hidden Object

Of 152 developers who shipped a Hidden Object RPG 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.. 236 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $99k, ×159 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 236 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 236 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
RPG + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 152
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $980 → $898 → $598 → $1.6k → $719 → $449 → $1.6k (still earning) → $1.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for RPG + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 152
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $4.3k (exactly $4,315)
Top 5% $100k (exactly $99,817)
Developers, 2 yr 152
Released games 463
Announced 236
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 11%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

RPG
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
RPG, Hidden Object; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Story Rich, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 96% positive over 127,888 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $750, 1 in 4 over $4.3k, 1 in 20 over $99k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 90 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 236 games are announced against 87 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + FMVStrong odds169 devs · median $54k · 144 announced
  2. + IdlerFair357 devs · median $2.2k · 471 announced
  3. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  4. + SportsFair113 devs · median $1.5k · 124 announced
  5. + Combat RacingFair22 devs · median $629 · 28 announced
  6. + Split ScreenFair28 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair41 devs · median $449 · 43 announced
  8. + SamuraiPoor odds14 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds76 devs · median $96k · 165 announced
  10. + 4XPoor odds26 devs · median $54k · 56 announced
  11. + MinigamesPoor odds19 devs · median $40k · 34 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds15 devs · median $28k · 19 announced

All 262 pairs on the RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MiSide $14.99 122,007 97% 3.7M $55M (exactly $54,866,548) AIHASTO
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley older $19.99 3,369 97% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,020,389) Hyper Games
Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery older $12.99 4,966 94% 149k $1.9M (exactly $1,935,250) Silver Lining Studio
Obenseuer · EA older $19.99 1,684 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) Loiste Interactive
Hero of the Kingdom older $7.99 3,574 94% 107k $857k (exactly $856,688) Lonely Troops
The Legend of Fancy Realm Remake $24.99 897 86% 27k $672k (exactly $672,481) USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd.
Hero of the Kingdom II older $8.99 1,900 95% 57k $512k (exactly $512,430) Lonely Troops
Sunday Gold older $21.99 687 77% 21k $453k (exactly $453,214) BKOM Studios
Spooky Milk Life · EA $11.99 1,216 74% 36k $437k (exactly $437,395) MangoMango, Studio Ginkgo
DRAGON QUEST TREASURES older $49.99 257 77% 7.7k $385k (exactly $385,423) Square Enix, TOSE CO., LTD.
Shattered Divinities $9.99 906 94% 27k $272k (exactly $271,528) 星魂游戏
NO-SKIN $6.99 1,227 95% 37k $257k (exactly $257,302) NoEye-Soft
Hotel Tales $14.99 455 80% 14k $205k (exactly $204,614) TopHouse Studio
Afterinfection $8.99 463 56% 14k $125k (exactly $124,871) RePatrick21
Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 3 $6.99 476 91% 14k $100k (exactly $99,817) Lonely Troops
The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time $17.99 146 86% 4.4k $79k (exactly $78,796) Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobe… (Coin Drop Games, Lucas Immanuel, jucobee, Kyle Chuang)
ShoppingMall: Manager Simulator $14.99 95 45% 2.9k $43k (exactly $42,722) Geekon

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