Games › Hidden Object › Hidden Object + Time Travel
Should I ship a Time-Travel Hidden Object?
Hidden Object + Time Travel
Only 15 developers shipped a Time-Travel Hidden Object 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, Space Accident VR, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 24 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,741) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 74 |
| Announced | 24 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 90% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Time Travel
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Hidden Object; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with VR
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 777 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 5 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Hidden Object with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + Level EditorFair
- + Dating SimFair
- + CatsFair
- + DogsFair
- + RomanceFair
- + FlightFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + SimulationFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Word GameFair
- + Point & ClickFair
Comparable games
The Gardens Between 2018 · $1.4M 
Doors: Paradox 2022 · $710k 
Hidden Through Time 2020 · $673k 
Accident 2021 · $657k 
A Tower Full of Cats 2024 · $414k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Gardens Between | older | $19.99 | 2,362 93% | 71k | $1.4M (exactly $1,416,491) | The Voxel Agents |
| | Doors: Paradox | older | $14.99 | 1,579 91% | 47k | $710k (exactly $710,076) | Big Loop Studios |
| | Hidden Through Time | older | $7.99 | 2,807 93% | 84k | $673k (exactly $672,838) | Rogueside |
| | Accident | older | $14.99 | 1,462 76% | 44k | $657k (exactly $657,461) | Duality Games, Spirit Games Studio |
| | A Tower Full of Cats | older | $5.99 | 2,304 99% | 69k | $414k (exactly $414,029) | Devcats |
 | Time Lock VR 1 | older | $12.99 | 665 78% | 20k | $259k (exactly $259,150) | WR-VRG |
 | Cats in Time | older | $4.99 | 1,053 96% | 32k | $158k (exactly $157,634) | Pine Studio |
 | マーダーミステリーパラドクス このひと夏の十五年 | older | $19.99 | 249 85% | 7.5k | $149k (exactly $149,325) | 213℉ |
 | Time Mysteries 2: The Ancient Spectres | older | $14.99 | 267 61% | 8.0k | $120k (exactly $120,070) | Artifex Mundi |
 | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
 | The House of Da Vinci VR | $24.99 | 126 93% | 3.8k | $94k (exactly $94,462) | Blue Brain Games | |
 | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
 | Dofamine VR | $9.99 | 173 82% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,848) | VR-WRG | |
 | Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between | $19.99 | 10 90% | 300 | $6.0k (exactly $5,997) | The Voxel Agents | |
 | No.13813 | $5.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $3.1k (exactly $3,055) | Typebits | |
 | Hidden Portals: Eternal Balance Collector's Edition | $8.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $1.9k (exactly $1,888) | Do Games Limited | |
 | P1: Anchor Light | $7.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | Deadbolt Interactive, Perp Games | |
 | Cave Of Horrors | $4.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $898 (exactly $898) | Maiku_Dev | |
 | Untimely Hidden: Patara | $1.99 | 11 27% | 330 | $657 (exactly $657) | Ubik Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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