Games › Souls-like › Souls-like + Hidden Object
Should I ship a Hidden Object Souls-like?
Souls-like + Hidden Object
Only 18 developers shipped a Hidden Object Souls-like 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, Stonemachia, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 21 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 7 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.3 the market's $1.5k for a 7 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270. 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper, while revenue is up 65% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $270 (exactly $270) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $1.3k (exactly $1,317) |
| Top 5% | $746k (exactly $746,027) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 42 |
| Announced | 21 |
| Effort | 7 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 up 65% on the market, supply 40% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Souls-like
- effort 7 / 10 · low · effort 7 sits in the low band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 7 / 10 · big single-player or serious online
- Systems
- Souls-like, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Action, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Anime, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,430 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 21 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Souls-like with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + Visual NovelFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Precision PlatformerLong shot
- + Score AttackLong shot
- + WarPoor odds
- + Turn-Based TacticsPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stonemachia | $19.99 | 1,244 95% | 37k | $746k (exactly $746,027) | Crossfall Games | |
| | Astronite | older | $14.99 | 165 70% | 5.0k | $74k (exactly $74,200) | Dume Games Studio |
| | 爆裂!スイーツランド - PANIC IN SWEETS LAND - | older | $24.99 | 24 66% | 720 | $18k (exactly $17,993) | Sonic Powered Co.,Ltd. |
| | Тёмное отражение (Dark Reflection) | older | $4.99 | 59 91% | 1.8k | $8.8k (exactly $8,832) | Slay Buherman |
| | MiSa | $4.99 | 58 65% | 1.7k | $8.7k (exactly $8,683) | Hero | |
| | JimmyCraft | older | $4.99 | 34 100% | 1.0k | $5.1k (exactly $5,090) | Happysoft Interactive |
| | NO Logic | older | $2.99 | 40 87% | 1.2k | $3.6k (exactly $3,588) | Zeneki |
| | Castle of Lord Velimir | older | $13.99 | 7 57% | 210 | $2.9k (exactly $2,938) | GM hack |
| | Elf Adventure: The Lost Castle | $6.99 | 14 28% | 420 | $2.9k (exactly $2,936) | 430Games | |
| | Grot Slasher | older | $9.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) | Phoenixxx Games |
| | SKUF BACKROOMS | $0.99 | 78 58% | 2.3k | $2.3k (exactly $2,317) | akhsotoen | |
| | Master Knight | $3.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $1.3k (exactly $1,317) | DIG Games | |
| | Sylva - Curse of the Demon Woods | $6.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Alessandro Castiglione | |
| | My Hidden Dreams | $7.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $959 (exactly $959) | SIXDOTS | |
| | Hoku Shrine | · EA | $9.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $899 (exactly $899) | Ibragim Shaipov |
| | DarkShine | · EA | $3.00 | 5 100% | 150 | $450 (exactly $450) | DScorp |
| | GlizzySouls | · EA | $1.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $418 (exactly $418) | Mark W |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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