Tag pairdata 30 Sep 2026

Hidden Object + Wholesome: a typical launch earns $802 in its first year

That is the median of 87 indie paid launches, 2024 Q4 to 2025 Q3. 5 of 160 matured launches earned $100k or more, against 1.4 expected for their price and launch quarter. Releases rose 13% on the year before: 116 against 103.

Price: $802
Price vs a year earlier: −50.0%
Releases, 12 months: 116
Upcoming games: 69
Games on the store: 387

Boards

as of 30 Sep 2026

Where this pair stands on each board of the front page. Every value carries its 90% interval and its sample.

Hidden Object + Wholesome on each board
Board	Value	Interval	Sample	Standing
Most anticipatedShare of all upcoming wishlist heat on Steam, with the number of upcoming games beside it.	0.03%share of upcoming wishlist heat	0.03% to 0.04%	11 ranked of 69 upcoming gameswishlist rank 30 Sep 2026	#2,993 of 7,193pairs on this board
Launch successLaunches earning $100k or more, against the number expected for their price tier and launch quarter.	1.81xhits against expected	1.23x to 2.95x	160 launchesindie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old)	#284 of 6,324pairs on this board
Fewer new releasesFewer launches relative to players. Historically this did not predict better launches.	+12%player demand against new supply, relative to Steam	−10% to +46%	69 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025; releases 30 Sep 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 vs prior 12 months	#1,006 of 2,361pairs on this board
Rising demandGaining players faster than same-age games. Descriptive, not a launch signal.	−7%review growth against same-age games	−11% to −2%	69 tracked gamesJun 2026 to Aug 2026 vs Jun 2025 to Aug 2025	#1,126 of 2,461pairs on this board

Pairs are noisier than genres: the demand boards at pair level are indicative only.

Launch success

launches 6 to 30 months old

Matured indie paid launches that earned an estimated $100k or more, against the number expected for games at the same price tier and launch quarter.

Hits: 5
Expected: 1.4

Launches: 160
Hit rate: 3.1%0.6% to 6.1%
Expected rate: 0.9%
Against expected: 1.81x1.23x to 2.95x

Launch window: indie paid launches 31 Mar 2024 to 1 Apr 2026 (6 to 30 months old). Hit odds are shrunk toward the Steam-wide rate by 3 expected hits.

Revenue spread

160 launches

Estimated lifetime gross of the same matured launches. Half earned less than the median; one in ten earned more than the top figure.

Bottom tenth: $362
Median: $884
Top tenth: $6,036

Estimated from Steam review counts. Lifetime to date, so it differs from the first-year price above.

Supply

raw release counts

Games released with both tags, last 12 months against the 12 before.

Last 12 months: 116
Prior 12 months: 103

Change: +13%
Against Steam: −17%after Steam-wide growth, shrunk by 5 releases

Parent tags

Hidden ObjectGenre pageRanked on every board, with its best pairs.
WholesomeNot a genreA theme, mood, feature or presentation tag: never ranked as a market on its own, only inside pairs.

Comparable games

8 indie titles

The biggest indie games in this pair by estimated lifetime gross. Revenue is shown as a number at 50 or more reviews, as a range at 10 to 49, and not at all below 10.

More with Hidden Object

pairs with Hidden Object

Hidden Object + Detective$1,18352 launches priced, 73 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Story Rich$1,155101 launches priced, 94 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Visual Novel$1,05038 launches priced, 46 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Creature Collector$92239 launches priced, 35 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Funny$88938 launches priced, 67 releases in 12 months
Hidden Object + Cats$865105 launches priced, 132 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Hidden Object

More with Wholesome

pairs with Wholesome

Cozy + Wholesome$1,797128 launches priced, 213 releases in 12 months
Point & Click + Wholesome$1,77343 launches priced, 69 releases in 12 months
Relaxing + Wholesome$1,572131 launches priced, 208 releases in 12 months
Cute + Wholesome$1,454129 launches priced, 189 releases in 12 months
Casual + Wholesome$1,117132 launches priced, 229 releases in 12 months
Cats + Wholesome$88478 launches priced, 95 releases in 12 months

Every pair with Wholesome

Verdicts

in development

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