Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Solitaire
Should I ship a Solitaire Hidden Object?
Hidden Object + Solitaire
Only 19 developers shipped a Solitaire Hidden Object in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Hidden Kittens: Kingdom of Cats, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×3.0 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $3.1k, ×27 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) |
| Top 5% | $3.2k (exactly $3,164) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 117 |
| Announced | 15 |
| Effort | 2 / 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 25% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, 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
- Solitaire
- effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Hidden Object, Solitaire; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Point & Click, Tabletop
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 97% positive over 154 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Hidden Object with a different second tag, 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
Tested on Humans: Escape Room 2021 · $130k 
Mahjong World Contest (麻将) 2016 · $87k 
Minesweeper: Collector 2020 · $32k 
Myha: Return to the Lost Island 2019 · $20k 
Zombie Solitaire 2014 · $20k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tested on Humans: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 434 87% | 13k | $130k (exactly $130,070) | mc2games |
| | Mahjong World Contest (麻将) | older | $14.99 | 193 88% | 5.8k | $87k (exactly $86,792) | Creobit |
| | Minesweeper: Collector | older | $7.99 | 132 88% | 4.0k | $32k (exactly $31,640) | Anton Kryukov |
| | Myha: Return to the Lost Island | older | $14.99 | 45 75% | 1.4k | $20k (exactly $20,236) | Denis Martin, Simon Says: Play! |
| | Zombie Solitaire | older | $8.99 | 73 76% | 2.2k | $20k (exactly $19,688) | rokaplay |
 | The Lab - Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 48 79% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $14,386) | Flat Cat Games |
 | Island Cities - Jigsaw Puzzle | older | $1.99 | 214 95% | 6.4k | $13k (exactly $12,776) | Mens Sana Interactive |
 | Hidden Memory - Nature | older | $4.99 | 77 87% | 2.3k | $12k (exactly $11,527) | YAW Studios |
 | Mystery Solitaire The Black Raven | older | $14.99 | 25 84% | 750 | $11k (exactly $11,242) | Somer Games |
 | Find Me: Horror Game | older | $11.99 | 31 48% | 930 | $11k (exactly $11,151) | KalaOh Games |
 | Hidden Kittens: Kingdom of Cats | $1.99 | 53 100% | 1.6k | $3.2k (exactly $3,164) | Pinel Games | |
 | Seven Seas Jewels 2 Collector's Edition | $15.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.9k (exactly $2,878) | Anawiki Games | |
 | Nora: In Search of Hidden Ingredients | $7.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $2.4k (exactly $2,397) | Error 300 | |
 | Coloring Cats: Sports With Friends | $1.99 | 38 97% | 1.1k | $2.3k (exactly $2,269) | Mens Sana Interactive | |
 | Twistingo: Tree of Life Collector’s Edition | $9.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.8k (exactly $1,798) | MixoGames Ltd. | |
 | There's No Aliens | $3.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $1.7k (exactly $1,676) | Error 300 | |
 | Shapes of Memory: Jigsaw Puzzle | $3.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $1.6k (exactly $1,556) | Creative Hand, Abyssal Studios | |
 | Jixo: The Season of Joy Collector's Edition | $9.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | MixoGames Ltd. | |
 | Jixo: Summer Dreams Collector's Edition | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | MixoGames Ltd. | |
 | Jixo 4: Magical Nights Collector’s Edition | $9.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.2k (exactly $1,199) | MixoGames Ltd. |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.