Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Action game?

Action + Time Management

Of 262 developers who shipped a Time Management Action game 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.. 499 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×394 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 499 games are announced against 168 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 499 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 262
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $1.5k → $1.1k → $898 → $2.1k → $1.7k → $479 (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 262
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $7.9k (exactly $7,910)
Top 5% $248k (exactly $247,552)
Developers, 2 yr 262
Released games 623
Announced 499
Effort 5 / 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 down 60% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Co-op, Online Co-Op
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Funny, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 382,534 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $7.9k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 114 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 499 games are announced against 168 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M PEAK 2025 · $72M The Blood of Dawnwalker 2026 · $33M The Alters 2025 · $16M LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
The Blood of Dawnwalker $69.99 15,789 86% 474k $33M (exactly $33,152,163) Rebel Wolves
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
LOCKDOWN Protocol $9.99 16,605 86% 498k $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) Mirage Creative Lab
Gamble With Your Friends $7.99 18,883 89% 566k $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) TEAM GWYF
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster $49.99 2,971 80% 89k $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Punch Club older $9.99 12,098 81% 363k $3.6M (exactly $3,625,771) Lazy Bear Games
Papa's Freezeria Deluxe older $5.99 12,275 99% 368k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,818) Flipline Studios
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe $5.99 3,450 98% 104k $620k (exactly $619,965) Flipline Studios
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic

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