Do I ship it?

Games › Strategy RPG › Strategy RPG + Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object Strategy RPG?

Strategy RPG + Hidden Object

Of 38 developers who shipped a Hidden Object Strategy RPG 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.. 27 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $300 in the last 2 years and $250 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 21 developers shipped in the last year and 27 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 27 announced, ×1.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Strategy RPG + Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 38
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $210 → $0 → $1.9k → $252 → $150 → $4.1k (still earning) → $3.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Strategy RPG + Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 38
Bottom 30% $0 (exactly $0)
Median $299 (exactly $299)
Top 25% $4.1k (exactly $4,126)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $20,767)
Developers, 2 yr 38
Released games 75
Announced 27
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 down 25% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Strategy RPG
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Strategy RPG, Hidden Object; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, 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 1,262 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $300, 1 in 4 over $4.1k, 1 in 20 over $20k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. All of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + SportsFair23 devs · median $4.7k · 26 announced
  2. + SwordplayFair22 devs · median $2.7k · 28 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair40 devs · median $2.0k · 31 announced
  4. + EconomyFair95 devs · median $2.0k · 128 announced
  5. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair8 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  6. + ConspiracyFair19 devs · median $1.2k · 21 announced
  7. + Shop KeeperFair21 devs · median $987 · 25 announced
  8. + 2D PlatformerFair108 devs · median $479 · 113 announced
  9. + Point & ClickFair43 devs · median $450 · 47 announced
  10. + Turn-BasedPoor odds58 devs · median $63k · 76 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds30 devs · median $35k · 41 announced
  12. + 4XPoor odds15 devs · median $31k · 33 announced

All 158 pairs on the Strategy RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Obenseuer 2018 · EA · $1.0M The Legend of Fancy Realm Remake 2026 · $672k 灵墟 2023 · $312k Winter 2022 · EA · $306k 月藍傳奇REMAKE古文明之謎 2024 · $146k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Obenseuer · EA older $19.99 1,684 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,009,895) Loiste Interactive
The Legend of Fancy Realm Remake $24.99 897 86% 27k $672k (exactly $672,481) USERJOY Technology Co.,Ltd.
灵墟 older $10.99 946 86% 28k $312k (exactly $311,896) HappyTall Game
Winter · EA older $29.99 340 73% 10k $306k (exactly $305,898) Frostfall Realms Studios
月藍傳奇REMAKE古文明之謎 older $19.99 244 93% 7.3k $146k (exactly $146,327) 天使蛋糕, 攸藍, 牙籤, 黃金, 咕咕咕, 鎧特
Waiting For The Raven older $14.99 61 77% 1.8k $27k (exactly $27,432) Musclebird
DungeonCrawlers $8.99 77 68% 2.3k $21k (exactly $20,767) KusanohitoCreative
RECORD_DrowsyVortex $9.99 54 100% 1.6k $16k (exactly $16,184) LunarHillz
烧尾宴 $8.99 52 75% 1.6k $14k (exactly $14,024) 有点正经
Rising Mist older $14.99 31 80% 930 $14k (exactly $13,941) WASD Games
Samara $8.99 32 90% 960 $8.6k (exactly $8,630) MissingShip
Schoolgirl Card Pull Simulator $6.99 34 61% 1.0k $7.1k (exactly $7,130) Violet Soft
Money And Lady | 财貌双全 $9.99 20 35% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Happy DLC Studio
Primage · EA $6.99 21 76% 630 $4.4k (exactly $4,404) Fadzior
NO STRANGERS $4.99 29 58% 870 $4.3k (exactly $4,341) Xeirel Software
The Legend of Shiande $2.99 46 100% 1.4k $4.1k (exactly $4,126) Thales Caus

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