Do I ship it?

Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + 2D Platformer

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation 2D Platformer?

Time Manipulation + 2D Platformer

Of 31 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation 2D Platformer 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.. 61 more are announced, ×3.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $210 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 16 developers shipped in the last year and 61 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 475% on the market, 61 announced, ×3.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + 2D Platformer
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.7k → $450 → $150 → $210 → $129k → $479 (still earning) → $105 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + 2D Platformer: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $90 (exactly $90)
Median $210 (exactly $210)
Top 25% $3.2k (exactly $3,236)
Top 5% $180k (exactly $179,910)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 116
Announced 61
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 475% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
2D Platformer
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation, 2D Platformer; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Platformer
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 98% positive over 2,058 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $90, median $210, 1 in 4 over $3.2k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $90. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Manipulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M Braid 2009 · $3.1M Timespinner 2018 · $1.7M Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ 2023 · $943k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Katana ZERO older $14.99 66,341 97% 2.0M $30M (exactly $29,833,548) Askiisoft
Braid older $14.99 6,941 93% 208k $3.1M (exactly $3,121,368) Number None
Timespinner older $19.99 2,823 86% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) Lunar Ray Games
Braid, Anniversary Edition older $19.99 1,761 92% 53k $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) Thekla, Inc.
CONVERGENCE: A League of Legends Story™ older $29.99 1,048 87% 31k $943k (exactly $942,886) Double Stallion
Chrono Gear: Warden of Time $17.99 950 98% 29k $513k (exactly $512,715) Team Chrono Gear, GalaxyTrail
Super Time Force Ultra older $14.99 677 90% 20k $304k (exactly $304,447) Capybara Games
What Lies in the Multiverse older $14.99 519 91% 16k $233k (exactly $233,394) Studio Voyager, IguanaBee
Advent NEON® $19.99 300 98% 9.0k $180k (exactly $179,910) CryoGX
MotionRec $9.99 430 99% 13k $129k (exactly $128,871) HANDSUM
Super Puzzled Cat $16.99 183 98% 5.5k $93k (exactly $93,275) Penguin Mug Games
Bauhaus Bonk $7.99 73 100% 2.2k $17k (exactly $17,498) Spoonful Games
Get Up In The Night $6.99 52 98% 1.6k $11k (exactly $10,904) GUITN Studio
A Pinball Game That Makes You Mad $9.99 27 81% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Azimuth Studios
Echobreaker $8.99 12 100% 360 $3.2k (exactly $3,236) Upstream Arcade
NUSNUR $4.99 16 100% 480 $2.4k (exactly $2,395) Team PARAFOX
RE-TAPED $4.99 15 100% 450 $2.2k (exactly $2,246) Logic Potion

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