Do I ship it?

Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Space

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Space Hidden Object?

Hidden Object + Space

Of 52 developers who shipped a Space Hidden Object 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.. 59 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $31k, ×49 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 59 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 59 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hidden Object + Space
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.9k → $2.5k → $449 → $1.3k → $300 → $3.0k → $597 (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hidden Object + Space: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $597 (exactly $597)
Top 25% $3.5k (exactly $3,471)
Top 5% $31k (exactly $31,050)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 168
Announced 59
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 25% on the market, supply 25% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
Space
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Puzzle
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 3D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 1,741 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $600, 1 in 4 over $3.4k, 1 in 20 over $31k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Hidden Object with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds17 devs · median $11k · 21 announced
  2. + Level EditorFair12 devs · median $7.6k · 14 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair46 devs · median $3.5k · 41 announced
  4. + CatsFair128 devs · median $1.5k · 160 announced
  5. + DogsFair35 devs · median $1.5k · 18 announced
  6. + RomanceFair60 devs · median $1.5k · 48 announced
  7. + FlightFair9 devs · median $1.3k · 10 announced
  8. + City BuilderFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  9. + SimulationFair475 devs · median $1.2k · 555 announced
  10. + UnderwaterFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 19 announced
  11. + Word GameFair29 devs · median $1.2k · 26 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair470 devs · median $1.2k · 502 announced

All 188 pairs on the Hidden Object page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Machinika: Atlas 2024 · $206k Space Rescue: Code Pink 2021 · EA · $117k Digger: Galactic Treasures 2025 · $106k Space Wars 2020 · $95k The Abandoned Planet 2024 · $89k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Machinika: Atlas $11.99 574 76% 17k $206k (exactly $206,468) Littlefield Studio
Space Rescue: Code Pink · EA older $11.99 326 89% 9.8k $117k (exactly $117,262) Robin
Digger: Galactic Treasures $4.99 711 87% 21k $106k (exactly $106,437) RainStyle games
Space Wars older $29.99 106 86% 3.2k $95k (exactly $95,368) High and Wide
The Abandoned Planet older $14.99 197 93% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) Dexter Team Games
NeuraGun · EA older $9.99 196 81% 5.9k $59k (exactly $58,741) Whale Rock Games
Looking for Aliens older $7.99 235 95% 7.1k $56k (exactly $56,330) Yustas
Mechanic 8230: Escape from Ilgrot older $12.99 111 90% 3.3k $43k (exactly $43,257) Nudiventra
Recolit older $14.99 88 87% 2.6k $40k (exactly $39,574) Image Labo, Marudice
no signal $15.00 69 98% 2.1k $31k (exactly $31,050) exodrifter
Heartreasure: Stellar Journey $5.99 107 100% 3.2k $19k (exactly $19,228) asaha
PLATONICA SPACE $9.99 58 68% 1.7k $17k (exactly $17,383) Kazuhide Oka
Niktophobia $7.99 63 66% 1.9k $15k (exactly $15,101) OldYacht
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio
MALPRAXIS™ $8.99 35 48% 1.1k $9.4k (exactly $9,440) Sunscorched Studios
The PARADOGX Incident $10.99 25 92% 750 $8.2k (exactly $8,242) Artibex
Find 100 Ducks and Blast Them...IN SPACE!!! $7.49 31 93% 930 $7.0k (exactly $6,966) Welcome Back Games

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