Do I ship it?

GamesAutomationAutomation + Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Automation game?

Automation + Time Manipulation

Only 8 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Automation game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Check Inn, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×141 the market median. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 14 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Automation + Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 8
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.5k → $13k → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Automation + Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 8
Bottom 30% $478 (exactly $478)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,946)
Top 25% $41k (exactly $40,923)
Top 5% $89k (exactly $88,591)
Developers, 2 yr 8
Released games 30
Announced 14
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.89

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 65% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 23%, 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.

Automation
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Automation, Time Manipulation
Price point
$7.89 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

Fewer than 10 games in the last 2 years; sentiment and price figures use the all window.

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 2,611 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $40k, 1 in 20 over $88k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 5 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds36 devs · median $57k · 31 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistStrong odds27 devs · median $4.5k · 32 announced
  3. + Open World Survival CraftFair28 devs · median $307k · 37 announced
  4. + HorrorFair19 devs · median $8.0k · 29 announced
  5. + HistoricalFair26 devs · median $7.9k · 24 announced
  6. + UndergroundFair20 devs · median $7.4k · 32 announced
  7. + Class-BasedFair19 devs · median $6.6k · 22 announced
  8. + MiningFair105 devs · median $4.9k · 164 announced
  9. + Auto BattlerFair112 devs · median $4.5k · 153 announced
  10. + ProgrammingFair84 devs · median $3.8k · 102 announced
  11. + FishingFair40 devs · median $3.4k · 46 announced
  12. + Turn-Based TacticsFair28 devs · median $2.9k · 36 announced

All 135 pairs on the Automation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
SeaOrama: World of Shipping older $19.99 382 58% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Hidden Tower, SeaOrama
Magic Research 2 older $5.99 610 92% 18k $110k (exactly $109,617) Maticolotto
Train World older $34.99 85 75% 2.6k $89k (exactly $89,224) Turn Point Games
Check Inn $14.99 197 84% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) KishMish Games
Magic Research older $4.99 410 90% 12k $61k (exactly $61,377) Maticolotto
Oasis Mission: Colony Sim $14.99 91 56% 2.7k $41k (exactly $40,923) Lunar pug studio
Poop Clicker older $0.99 725 76% 22k $22k (exactly $21,532) Serge Kornew
Meet me at NooN older $9.99 55 100% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Pandaroo Interactive
Omnibullet older $11.99 36 100% 1.1k $13k (exactly $12,949) Arbitrary Combination
Hexahedra older $20.00 20 100% 600 $12k (exactly $12,000) Sidequest Ninja
Typhon: Bot vs Bot · EA $19.99 12 75% 360 $7.2k (exactly $7,196) Brightshade Games
Chat Ragdoll Racing · EA $4.99 13 100% 390 $1.9k (exactly $1,946) Scuffed Gamedev, Samuli Salonen, Marcus… (Scuffed Gamedev, Samuli Salonen, Marcus Rose)
ZAVOD: Conveyor Logic $4.99 12 100% 360 $1.8k (exactly $1,796) Growfall Games
Infinite Idle: Online Clicker RPG $1.99 8 37% 240 $478 (exactly $478) Comar Studios
Code My Robot Vacuum · EA $5.99 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Umit Canbolat
Quinn $7.89 0 0% 0 $0 (exactly $0) Wrong_Swich_Studio

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