Do I ship it?

Games › Action-Adventure › Action-Adventure + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel Action-Adventure?

Action-Adventure + Time Travel

Of 45 developers who shipped a Time-Travel Action-Adventure 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.. 97 more are announced, ×6.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×486 the market median. Revenue is up 1245% on the market; 97 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue up 1245% on the market, 97 announced, ×6.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action-Adventure + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $1.3k → $4.8k → $1.3k → $839 → $6.3k → $359 (still earning) → $4.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action-Adventure + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $358 (exactly $358)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,617)
Top 25% $42k (exactly $42,272)
Top 5% $305k (exactly $305,346)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 123
Announced 97
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.92

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 1245% on the market, supply 45% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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-Adventure
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Time Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Action-Adventure; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Exploration
Price point
$9.92 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.92.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 11,374 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $42k, 1 in 20 over $300k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action-Adventure with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dating SimFair63 devs · median $12k · 69 announced
  2. + MinigamesFair18 devs · median $6.7k · 19 announced
  3. + BikesFair11 devs · median $2.5k · 11 announced
  4. + TransportationFair21 devs · median $2.3k · 22 announced
  5. + MotorbikeFair9 devs · median $2.3k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingLong shot14 devs · median $360 · 16 announced
  7. + Time AttackLong shot12 devs · median $150 · 17 announced
  8. + Character Action GamePoor odds23 devs · median $58k · 93 announced
  9. + MMORPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 116 announced
  10. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds49 devs · median $25k · 133 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds81 devs · median $24k · 135 announced
  12. + Villain ProtagonistPoor odds12 devs · median $17k · 26 announced

All 242 pairs on the Action-Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cronos: The New Dawn 2025 · $14M The Messenger 2018 · $6.4M Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time 2008 · $1.5M Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M Chrono Gear: Warden of Time 2025 · $513k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cronos: The New Dawn $59.99 7,753 87% 233k $14M (exactly $13,953,074) Bloober Team
The Messenger older $19.99 10,711 92% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,423,387) Sabotage
Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time older $9.99 5,045 85% 151k $1.5M (exactly $1,511,986) Kudosoft
Braid, Anniversary Edition older $19.99 1,761 92% 53k $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) Thekla, Inc.
Chrono Gear: Warden of Time $17.99 950 98% 29k $513k (exactly $512,715) Team Chrono Gear, GalaxyTrail
Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival older $19.99 807 69% 24k $484k (exactly $483,958) Tbjbu2
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos older $29.99 379 95% 11k $341k (exactly $340,986) MyDearest Inc.
Cybernetic Fault $14.99 679 78% 20k $305k (exactly $305,346) Whale Rock Games
Time Lock VR 1 older $12.99 665 78% 20k $259k (exactly $259,150) WR-VRG
Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate $49.99 149 62% 4.5k $223k (exactly $223,455) Mighty Eyes
The Holy Gosh Darn $19.99 276 96% 8.3k $166k (exactly $165,517) Perfectly Paranormal
DragonLoop $8.99 567 91% 17k $153k (exactly $152,920) 沙因, 小阮
Space Accident VR $16.99 231 82% 6.9k $118k (exactly $117,741) VR-WRG
UnLoop · EA $17.99 163 98% 4.9k $88k (exactly $87,971) Superposition NULL
Time Treker $6.99 399 65% 12k $84k (exactly $83,670) Fuse Game
Joyville 2 $12.99 207 72% 6.2k $81k (exactly $80,668) KudPlay Games

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