Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Base Building game?

Base Building + Time Management

Of 152 developers who shipped a Time Management Base Building 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.. 215 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×4.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×781 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 215 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 215 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 152
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $5.4k → $12k → $4.6k → $4.5k → $2.2k → $2.4k (still earning) → $2.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 152
Bottom 30% $713 (exactly $713)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 25% $26k (exactly $25,888)
Top 5% $490k (exactly $490,336)
Developers, 2 yr 152
Released games 308
Announced 215
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 35% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building, Time Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Resource Management, Simulation
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 60,856 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $490k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 79 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 215 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Farthest Frontier 2025 · $26M The Alters 2025 · $16M Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M F1® Manager 2024 2024 · $5.8M The Tenants 2022 · $4.2M
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
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
The Tenants older $19.99 7,071 79% 212k $4.2M (exactly $4,240,479) EndGameLoop Games
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
Farm Together 2 $25.99 4,456 93% 134k $3.5M (exactly $3,474,343) Milkstone Studios
Cliff Empire older $17.99 4,194 87% 126k $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) Lion's Shade
Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition older $14.99 3,579 55% 107k $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) Klabater
Global Rescue · EA $24.99 1,864 86% 56k $1.4M (exactly $1,397,441) PeDePe GbR
Havendock $19.99 1,504 81% 45k $902k (exactly $901,949) YYZ Studio
Survival Log $10.99 2,709 82% 81k $893k (exactly $893,157) Midnight Workshop
Movies Tycoon $29.99 545 70% 16k $490k (exactly $490,336) PixelCraze s.r.o.
Farm Manager World $19.99 605 68% 18k $363k (exactly $362,818) Cleversan Games
Zombie Cure Lab $24.99 393 65% 12k $295k (exactly $294,632) Thera Bytes GmbH

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