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Should I ship an Alternate-History Time Management game?
Time Management + Alternate History
Of 32 developers who shipped an Alternate-History Time Management 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $410k, ×662 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 44 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,948) |
| Top 5% | $416k (exactly $415,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 81 |
| Announced | 44 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 flat on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 20%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Alternate History
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, RPG
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 29,580 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + AgricultureFair
- + Time TravelFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + LootFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
Farthest Frontier 2025 · $26M 
Sword and Fairy Inn 2 2022 · $1.2M 
River Town Factory 2024 · $574k 
xiuzhen idle 2025 · $416k 
FACEMINER 2025 · $364k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | Sword and Fairy Inn 2 | older | $19.99 | 2,013 49% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,207,196) | SOFTSTAR ENTERTAINMENT |
| | River Town Factory | older | $14.99 | 1,277 88% | 38k | $574k (exactly $574,267) | iFAction Studio |
| | xiuzhen idle | $5.99 | 2,313 79% | 69k | $416k (exactly $415,646) | 游戏养家工作室 | |
| | FACEMINER | $7.99 | 1,517 90% | 46k | $364k (exactly $363,625) | Wristwork | |
 | Not Tonight 2 | older | $19.99 | 465 76% | 14k | $279k (exactly $278,860) | PanicBarn |
 | 懒人修仙传2 | · EA older | $7.99 | 873 71% | 26k | $209k (exactly $209,258) | 托更的修罗 |
 | Life Eater | older | $14.99 | 330 86% | 9.9k | $148k (exactly $148,401) | Strange Scaffold |
 | A Town Uncovered | $14.99 | 324 66% | 9.7k | $146k (exactly $145,703) | GeeSeki | |
 | Requiem of Reuinis | $11.99 | 359 91% | 11k | $129k (exactly $129,132) | Zaxiquej, Otogen Studio | |
 | TK Punk Gold | $11.99 | 291 87% | 8.7k | $105k (exactly $104,673) | 桑尼游戏(Sunny Game) | |
 | DEAD END COLOSSEUM SS | $10.99 | 138 83% | 4.1k | $45k (exactly $45,499) | TLACHTLI | |
 | Demon Maiden and Slave Summoning | $10.99 | 106 82% | 3.2k | $35k (exactly $34,948) | Sunspot | |
 | These Darker Tides | $7.99 | 76 90% | 2.3k | $18k (exactly $18,217) | Pixel Drip Games | |
 | Organic Burger Simulator | · EA | $14.99 | 12 58% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Mehmet Bilici, Hüseyin Doğan |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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