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Should I ship an Auto Battler Time Management game?
Auto Battler + Time Management
Of 32 developers who shipped an Auto Battler 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.. 40 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×266 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 40 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
| Top 25% | $13k (exactly $12,860) |
| Top 5% | $126k (exactly $126,366) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 40 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 55% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 34%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Auto Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Auto Battler, Time Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Combat, Management
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,721 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 5 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 40 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Auto Battler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Action RTSFair
- + SimulationFair
- + EconomyFair
- + SandboxFair
- + CyberpunkFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + CatsFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + SwordplayFair
Comparable games
The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M 
Becoming a King 2025 · $126k 
Rocky Idle 2026 · $92k 
City Defense Z 2025 · $90k 
All Aboard! The Train Defense Express 2025 · $57k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
| | Becoming a King | $14.99 | 281 77% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $126,366) | Lustration Team, TopHouse Studio | |
| | Rocky Idle | $9.99 | 308 83% | 9.2k | $92k (exactly $92,308) | Rocky Games Studio | |
| | City Defense Z | $9.99 | 300 74% | 9.0k | $90k (exactly $89,910) | Good Mood Games | |
| | All Aboard! The Train Defense Express | $4.99 | 379 84% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Likadev | |
 | Private Military Manager: Tactical Auto Battler | · EA | $5.99 | 291 69% | 8.7k | $52k (exactly $52,293) | 5minlab Corp. |
 | Cowgirl Maid Milk Cafe | $14.99 | 39 76% | 1.2k | $18k (exactly $17,538) | Kuroneko Cafe | |
 | Journeybound Idle | $12.99 | 33 84% | 990 | $13k (exactly $12,860) | Max Luck Gaming | |
 | Automatic Kingdom | $12.99 | 28 75% | 840 | $11k (exactly $10,912) | Matthew Pontarolo | |
 | The Dark Horde | · EA older | $6.99 | 44 95% | 1.3k | $9.2k (exactly $9,227) | Matt Storm |
 | Deadline Savior | · EA | $4.99 | 56 96% | 1.7k | $8.4k (exactly $8,383) | Cointinue Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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