Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Hidden Object

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hidden Object?

Hidden Object

Of 1,836 developers who shipped a Hidden Object 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.. 2,132 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 2 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×6.3 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $240. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 2,132 games are announced against 1,068 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 2,132 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Hidden Object
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,836
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $1.6k → $1.3k → $1.5k → $898 → $719 → $748 (still earning) → $479 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Hidden Object: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,836
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,593)
Top 5% $74k (exactly $73,828)
Developers, 2 yr 1,836
Released games 7,218
Announced 2,132
Effort 2 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 25% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Hidden Object
effort 2 / 10 · high · static scenes with click targets

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
Systems
Hidden Object
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 240,805 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $750, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $73k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 1,414 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,132 games are announced against 1,068 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Hidden Object

55 pairs with a settingwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Hidden Object + Cats Fair $1.5k 128 devs
  2. Hidden Object + Dogs Fair $1.5k 35 devs
  3. Hidden Object + Romance Fair $1.5k 60 devs
  4. Hidden Object + Underwater Fair $1.2k 21 devs
  5. Hidden Object + Psychological Horror Fair $987 542 devs
  6. Hidden Object + Noir Fair $959 50 devs
  7. Hidden Object + Pirates Fair $921 14 devs
  8. Hidden Object + Snow Fair $899 16 devs
  9. Hidden Object + Supernatural Fair $898 205 devs
  10. Hidden Object + LGBTQ+ Fair $898 23 devs
  11. Hidden Object + Horror Fair $897 725 devs
  12. Hidden Object + Mystery Fair $779 577 devs
  13. Hidden Object + Faith Fair $628 20 devs
  14. Hidden Object + Artificial Intelligence Fair $599 55 devs
  15. Hidden Object + Music Fair $539 11 devs
  16. Hidden Object + Lovecraftian Poor odds $4.6k 27 devs
  17. Hidden Object + Modern Poor odds $2.2k 47 devs
  18. Hidden Object + Underground Poor odds $1.8k 30 devs
  19. Hidden Object + Dystopian Poor odds $1.6k 21 devs
  20. Hidden Object + Animals Poor odds $1.5k 23 devs
  21. Hidden Object + Assassins Poor odds $1.3k 14 devs
  22. Hidden Object + Female Protagonist Poor odds $1.2k 172 devs
  23. Hidden Object + Vampires Poor odds $1.2k 13 devs
  24. Hidden Object + Crime Poor odds $1.2k 58 devs
  25. Hidden Object + Gothic Poor odds $1.2k 24 devs
  26. Hidden Object + Thriller Poor odds $1.0k 237 devs
  27. Hidden Object + Psychological Poor odds $899 220 devs
  28. Hidden Object + Detective Poor odds $899 218 devs
  29. Hidden Object + Demons Poor odds $899 105 devs
  30. Hidden Object + Medieval Poor odds $899 69 devs
  31. Hidden Object + Historical Poor odds $898 56 devs
  32. Hidden Object + Time Travel Poor odds $898 15 devs
  33. Hidden Object + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $897 53 devs
  34. Hidden Object + Dragons Poor odds $809 20 devs
  35. Hidden Object + Zombies Poor odds $748 56 devs
  36. Hidden Object + Mythology Poor odds $748 33 devs
  37. Hidden Object + Fantasy Poor odds $629 206 devs
  38. Hidden Object + Magic Poor odds $610 82 devs
  39. Hidden Object + Science Poor odds $610 17 devs
  40. Hidden Object + Conspiracy Poor odds $600 27 devs
  41. Hidden Object + Nature Poor odds $599 151 devs
  42. Hidden Object + Dark Fantasy Poor odds $599 87 devs
  43. Hidden Object + Space Poor odds $597 52 devs
  44. Hidden Object + Aliens Poor odds $538 33 devs
  45. Hidden Object + Western Poor odds $479 11 devs
  46. Hidden Object + Capitalism Poor odds $419 10 devs
  47. Hidden Object + Alternate History Poor odds $416 26 devs
  48. Hidden Object + Cyberpunk Poor odds $359 19 devs
  49. Hidden Object + War Dead $4.7k 4 devs
  50. Hidden Object + Steampunk Dead $1.6k 9 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

MiSide 2024 · $55M MECCHA CHAMELEON 2026 · $14M Fran Bow 2015 · $9.3M Witch It 2020 · $8.7M A Little to the Left 2022 · $7.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
MiSide $14.99 122,007 97% 3.7M $55M (exactly $54,866,548) AIHASTO
MECCHA CHAMELEON $5.99 78,746 87% 2.4M $14M (exactly $14,150,656) lemorion_1224
Fran Bow older $14.99 20,579 97% 617k $9.3M (exactly $9,254,376) Killmonday Games AB
Witch It older $19.99 14,540 89% 436k $8.7M (exactly $8,719,638) Barrel Roll Games
A Little to the Left older $14.99 16,885 91% 507k $7.6M (exactly $7,593,184) Max Inferno
Batman - The Telltale Series older $14.99 15,060 87% 452k $6.8M (exactly $6,772,482) Telltale
TOEM: A Photo Adventure older $19.99 9,688 99% 291k $5.8M (exactly $5,809,894) Something We Made
In Sound Mind older $34.99 5,467 95% 164k $5.7M (exactly $5,738,710) We Create Stuff
The Mortuary Assistant older $24.99 7,269 92% 218k $5.4M (exactly $5,449,569) DarkStone Digital
The Room 4: Old Sins older $8.99 17,806 98% 534k $4.8M (exactly $4,802,278) Fireproof Games
Librarian: Tidy Up the Arcane Library! $5.99 24,497 94% 735k $4.4M (exactly $4,402,111) ArtRising
Whisper of the House $14.99 5,344 96% 160k $2.4M (exactly $2,403,197) 元气弹工作室(GD Studio)
Lost and Found Co. $17.99 2,736 96% 82k $1.5M (exactly $1,476,619) Bit Egg Inc.
The Artisan of Glimmith $12.99 2,513 97% 75k $979k (exactly $979,316) Lunarch Studios
Lushfoil Photography Sim $14.99 1,718 91% 52k $773k (exactly $772,585) Matt2
Echoes of the Living · EA $24.99 1,005 83% 30k $753k (exactly $753,448) MoonGlint Studio
Stonemachia $19.99 1,244 95% 37k $746k (exactly $746,027) Crossfall Games
Approximately Up $24.99 995 93% 30k $746k (exactly $745,952) Approximately Games

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