Do I ship it?

GamesSpace SimSpace Sim + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Space Sim?

Space Sim + Hidden Object

Only 12 developers shipped a Hidden Object Space Sim 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, Approximately Up, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 13 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $240, ×0.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90. 13 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper, while revenue is up 1880% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 1880% on the market, 13 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Space Sim + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 12

not enough cohorts to draw

Outcomes for Space Sim + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 12
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $239 (exactly $239)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,180)
Top 5% $746k (exactly $745,952)
Developers, 2 yr 12
Released games 32
Announced 13
Effort 6 / 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 1880% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Space Sim
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
Space Sim, Hidden Object
Price point
$4.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,808 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $240, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $740k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 13 games are announced against 6 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DestructionFair14 devs · median $3.7k · 22 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair9 devs · median $3.6k · 12 announced
  3. + Tactical RPGFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + WarFair34 devs · median $1.3k · 42 announced
  5. + Walking SimulatorFair16 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  6. + SportsFair8 devs · median $479 · 9 announced
  7. + DiplomacyLong shot7 devs · median $360 · 14 announced
  8. + MilitaryPoor odds18 devs · median $6.3k · 39 announced
  9. + Online Co-OpPoor odds18 devs · median $4.9k · 63 announced
  10. + Strategy RPGPoor odds8 devs · median $4.9k · 21 announced
  11. + SandboxPoor odds86 devs · median $4.6k · 213 announced
  12. + Colony SimPoor odds42 devs · median $4.6k · 91 announced

All 114 pairs on the Space Sim page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Approximately Up $24.99 995 93% 30k $746k (exactly $745,952) Approximately Games
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
CRYODEATH VR older $24.99 21 85% 630 $16k (exactly $15,744) Kerag Elisaar
Mars Rover Simulator older $19.99 24 25% 720 $14k (exactly $14,393) DexterCoding
Don't Crash $4.99 68 98% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Override Studio
Orders of Magnitude older $4.99 68 97% 2.0k $10k (exactly $10,180) Ouroboro Soft Inc.
Search of Galaxy · EA older $9.99 25 52% 750 $7.5k (exactly $7,492) DRAGONnoid
Destiny's Sword · EA older $8.99 25 56% 750 $6.7k (exactly $6,742) 2Dogs Games Ltd.
T. B. P. older $24.99 8 87% 240 $6.0k (exactly $5,998) Laush Dmitriy Sergeevich
Cosmolace $6.99 16 93% 480 $3.4k (exactly $3,355) CCyoltose
100 Cats Lost In Space Find & Color $7.99 11 100% 330 $2.6k (exactly $2,637) Two Cats Games
Galactic Sanctuaries $3.99 2 100% 60 $239 (exactly $239) ADC
Echo $2.99 2 50% 60 $179 (exactly $179) Mistway
D.I.G. — Discover Infinite Galaxies · EA $4.99 1 0% 30 $150 (exactly $150) BloomSpaceGames
Epoch Makers $2.99 1 100% 30 $90 (exactly $90) Anomalybyte Studio, Sunset Disco
The Entity Within $2.99 1 0% 30 $90 (exactly $90) MightyCodeDragon

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