Do I ship it?

Games › Runner › Runner + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Runner?

Runner + Hidden Object

Of 31 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Runner 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.. 25 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $90 in the last 2 years and $150 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 13 developers shipped in the last year and 25 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 35% on the market, 25 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Runner + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $150 → $599 → $299 → $59 → $119 → $120 → $89 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Runner + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $90 (exactly $90)
Top 25% $898 (exactly $898)
Top 5% $2.4k (exactly $2,398)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 109
Announced 25
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $2.99

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 35% on the market, supply 35% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Runner
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Runner, Hidden Object; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry 3D Platformer, Adventure, Platformer
Price point
$2.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $2.99.

The top 10 games average 77% positive over 150 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $90, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $2.3k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. All of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 25 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + LootFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 10 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced
  3. + PsychologicalFair14 devs · median $839 · 12 announced
  4. + IdlerFair16 devs · median $838 · 8 announced
  5. + Visual NovelFair12 devs · median $750 · 11 announced
  6. + Time AttackFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced
  7. + FPSLong shot39 devs · median $958 · 43 announced
  8. + 4 Player LocalPoor odds12 devs · median $2.4k · 16 announced
  9. + MusicPoor odds16 devs · median $1.2k · 20 announced
  10. + Co-opPoor odds38 devs · median $1.0k · 64 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds40 devs · median $898 · 64 announced
  12. + Interactive FictionPoor odds10 devs · median $839 · 16 announced

All 123 pairs on the Runner page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Last Room 2021 · $857k TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight 2021 · $317k Panoptic 2020 · $143k [Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 2021 · $65k [Chilla's Art] Hanako | 花子さん 2020 · $55k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Last Room older $29.99 953 73% 29k $857k (exactly $857,414) Quantum Forge Studios
TASOMACHI: Behind the Twilight older $19.99 529 75% 16k $317k (exactly $317,241) Orbital Express
Panoptic older $16.99 281 96% 8.4k $143k (exactly $143,226) Team Panoptes
[Chilla's Art] The Caregiver | 終焉介護 older $4.99 431 80% 13k $65k (exactly $64,521) Chilla's Art
[Chilla's Art] Hanako | 花子さん older $7.99 229 75% 6.9k $55k (exactly $54,891) Chilla's Art
SUPER 56 older $6.99 146 94% 4.4k $31k (exactly $30,616) Onion Soup Interactive
Car Drive older $44.99 14 64% 420 $19k (exactly $18,896) kovalevviktor
Kitchen Simulator 2 older $4.99 80 48% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,976) WhackAKey Games
Endless mahjong older $34.99 10 100% 300 $10k (exactly $10,497) ZenTile Games
Super Clown Adventures older $4.99 37 72% 1.1k $5.5k (exactly $5,539) Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software
Campfire: Night One $14.99 12 91% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Prisca, Mezey Krisztián
Heroin Hero $9.99 8 87% 240 $2.4k (exactly $2,398) JPGames
Corridor Exit 8 $1.99 37 64% 1.1k $2.2k (exactly $2,209) Mynoki Games
Hirai Nya $3.99 17 94% 510 $2.0k (exactly $2,035) FirePillar2
Money Theft $4.99 13 76% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka
SeekOut · EA $3.89 16 93% 480 $1.9k (exactly $1,867) Nightroot Interactive
BiColor - Vision Trainer $9.99 5 80% 150 $1.5k (exactly $1,498) Binary Brain Games
Trump Tariff $1.99 21 71% 630 $1.3k (exactly $1,254) Valkeala Software, Tero Lunkka
JoshGeoff Weiner Simulator · EA $4.99 6 66% 180 $898 (exactly $898) AdumaGames
Lawnmower Game Racing 2: Drunken $1.99 15 73% 450 $896 (exactly $896) Tero Lunkka, Valkeala Software

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