Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Time Manipulation

Of 29 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Action Roguelike 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×6.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×657 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 44 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 44 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $60 → $899 → $356 → $3.3k → $6.3k → $11k → $2.1k (still earning) → $2.4k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,144)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,058)
Top 5% $312k (exactly $311,860)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 56
Announced 44
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 20% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Action Roguelike, Time Manipulation; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,535 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $310k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomanceStrong odds22 devs · median $6.5k · 17 announced
  2. + Creature CollectorFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  3. + SportsFair41 devs · median $1.6k · 39 announced
  4. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + VampiresFair55 devs · median $1.3k · 52 announced
  6. + IdlerFair44 devs · median $1.0k · 55 announced
  7. + DogsFair19 devs · median $899 · 18 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerFair36 devs · median $629 · 38 announced
  9. + FaithFair16 devs · median $449 · 21 announced
  10. + Character Action GamePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $12k · 14 announced
  12. + MechsPoor odds44 devs · median $12k · 85 announced

All 205 pairs on the Action Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE 2020 · $6.9M Million Depth 2025 · $343k Ascend to ZERO 2026 · $312k Maze Mice 2025 · $94k Titans of the Past 2025 · $81k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE older $24.99 9,247 85% 277k $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) SUPERHOT Team
Million Depth $16.99 673 93% 20k $343k (exactly $343,028) Cyber Space Biotope
Ascend to ZERO $11.99 867 82% 26k $312k (exactly $311,860) Flyway Games, Inc.
Maze Mice $9.99 315 88% 9.5k $94k (exactly $94,406) TrampolineTales
Titans of the Past $24.99 108 83% 3.2k $81k (exactly $80,968) Devil's Dozen Games
Super Drift Blade $6.99 351 94% 11k $74k (exactly $73,605) Liujiajun
PositronX older $19.99 56 71% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Scorpius Games
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Moon Watch · EA $9.99 56 57% 1.7k $17k (exactly $16,783) Jaspel
Void -Dementia- older $14.99 29 58% 870 $13k (exactly $13,041) J2YSOFT
Happy Monster · EA $8.99 41 82% 1.2k $11k (exactly $11,058) Destined Game Studio
Remnants of the Rift $14.99 15 86% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Bromio
Accretion $9.99 21 38% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) ValarFerys

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