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Should I ship a Trading Hidden Object?
Trading + Hidden Object
Only 7 developers shipped a Trading 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, Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 3, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×6.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $1.6k against a market of $480. 26 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $390 (exactly $390) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) |
| Top 25% | $81k (exactly $81,219) |
| Top 5% | $100k (exactly $99,817) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 7 |
| Released games | 36 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Hidden Object
- effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Trading, Hidden Object
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 11,101 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $390. 7 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MiningFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + FlightPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
Comparable games
Hero of the Kingdom 2013 · $857k 
Russian Village Simulator 2023 · $800k 
Hero of the Kingdom II 2015 · $512k 
Hero of the Kingdom III 2018 · $370k 
Center Station Simulator 2024 · EA · $332k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hero of the Kingdom | older | $7.99 | 3,574 94% | 107k | $857k (exactly $856,688) | Lonely Troops |
| | Russian Village Simulator | older | $29.99 | 889 84% | 27k | $800k (exactly $799,833) | VD Games, PropilGames |
| | Hero of the Kingdom II | older | $8.99 | 1,900 95% | 57k | $512k (exactly $512,430) | Lonely Troops |
| | Hero of the Kingdom III | older | $9.99 | 1,234 78% | 37k | $370k (exactly $369,830) | Lonely Troops |
| | Center Station Simulator | · EA older | $19.99 | 554 87% | 17k | $332k (exactly $332,234) | Nightmare Phoenix |
 | Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 1 | older | $6.99 | 1,044 91% | 31k | $219k (exactly $218,927) | Lonely Troops |
 | Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2 | older | $6.99 | 684 89% | 21k | $143k (exactly $143,435) | Lonely Troops |
 | Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 3 | $6.99 | 476 91% | 14k | $100k (exactly $99,817) | Lonely Troops | |
 | Weapons Genius | older | $5.99 | 475 53% | 14k | $85k (exactly $85,358) | JDM4iK, Droid Riot |
 | Treasure Beach | $9.99 | 271 81% | 8.1k | $81k (exactly $81,219) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | ShoppingMall: Manager Simulator | $14.99 | 95 45% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $42,722) | Geekon | |
 | Gun Store Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 41 56% | 1.2k | $12k (exactly $12,288) | Geekon |
 | Buscabit: A treasure hunter adventure | $5.99 | 9 88% | 270 | $1.6k (exactly $1,617) | Vaquita Games | |
 | Galleons of Fortune: Pioneers | $12.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Grupo Axertia, Carrera de Indias | |
 | Side Hustle City | $3.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Kian Productions | |
 | WXP Project | $0.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Offensive Player |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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