Do I ship it?

Games › Stealth › Stealth + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Stealth game?

Stealth + Hidden Object

Of 166 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Stealth game 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.. 227 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $540, ×0.9 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $48k, ×78 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 227 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 227 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Stealth + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 166
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $683 → $1.6k → $2.4k → $1.4k → $748 → $299 → $599 (still earning) → $239 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Stealth + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 166
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $539 (exactly $539)
Top 25% $2.6k (exactly $2,637)
Top 5% $49k (exactly $48,851)
Developers, 2 yr 166
Released games 424
Announced 227
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 down 50% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Stealth
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
Stealth, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action, Exploration
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 88,948 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 $540, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $48k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 102 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 227 games are announced against 95 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + JRPGFair7 devs · median $1.3k · 12 announced
  2. + World War IIPoor odds11 devs · median $43k · 14 announced
  3. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $30k · 30 announced
  4. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds8 devs · median $27k · 31 announced
  5. + WargamePoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  6. + DinosaursPoor odds10 devs · median $17k · 23 announced
  7. + Gun CustomizationPoor odds20 devs · median $13k · 63 announced
  8. + Base BuildingPoor odds21 devs · median $13k · 57 announced
  9. + Cold WarPoor odds7 devs · median $10k · 31 announced
  10. + HistoricalPoor odds32 devs · median $9.6k · 76 announced
  11. + MilitaryPoor odds43 devs · median $8.5k · 122 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds30 devs · median $7.6k · 89 announced

All 159 pairs on the Stealth page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

MECCHA CHAMELEON 2026 · $14M Witch It 2020 · $8.7M Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley 2024 · $2.0M Emissary Zero 2025 · $724k GYLT 2023 · $544k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MECCHA CHAMELEON $5.99 78,746 87% 2.4M $14M (exactly $14,150,656) lemorion_1224
Witch It older $19.99 14,540 89% 436k $8.7M (exactly $8,719,638) Barrel Roll Games
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley older $19.99 3,369 97% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,020,389) Hyper Games
Emissary Zero $8.99 2,683 83% 80k $724k (exactly $723,605) Rone Vine
GYLT older $19.99 907 95% 27k $544k (exactly $543,928) Haven Media, Parallel Circles
Boo Men · EA older $7.99 2,088 88% 63k $500k (exactly $500,494) Twisted Corridor👻
Granny: Escape Together $9.99 1,661 79% 50k $498k (exactly $497,802) CreepyToad
West Hunt older $9.99 1,522 84% 46k $456k (exactly $456,143) NewGen
Prehistoric Hunt · EA older $17.99 678 84% 20k $366k (exactly $365,917) Antiproto Studios
Platform 8 older $3.99 2,719 86% 82k $325k (exactly $325,464) KOTAKE CREATE
SchoolBoy Runaway $1.99 3,731 90% 112k $223k (exactly $222,741) Linked Squad
Take me, Vitaly $5.99 1,136 98% 34k $204k (exactly $204,139) Старый Билд
Koira $17.99 289 93% 8.7k $156k (exactly $155,973) Studio Tolima
Carmen Sandiego $29.99 86 67% 2.6k $77k (exactly $77,374) Gameloft
Dream Cage $7.99 298 63% 8.9k $71k (exactly $71,431) Hitori De Productions
Shards Of Solitude $9.99 163 85% 4.9k $49k (exactly $48,851) Chilling Designs
Ghostbane · EA $8.99 155 67% 4.7k $42k (exactly $41,804) Pi Bit

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