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Should I ship a Choices Matter Time Manipulation game?
Choices Matter + Time Manipulation
Of 32 developers who shipped a Choices Matter Time Manipulation 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.. 98 more are announced, ×5.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×2053 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 98 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $897 (exactly $897) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $34,862) |
| Top 5% | $975k (exactly $975,110) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 93 |
| Announced | 98 |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Choices Matter
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Choices Matter, Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Multiple Endings
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 6,920 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Choices Matter with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomFair
- + SportsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + TriviaFair
- + Board GameFair
- + RacingFair
- + ChessFair
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + RomePoor odds
- + World War IPoor odds
Comparable games
Quantum Break 2016 · $28M 
F1® Manager 2024 2024 · $5.8M 
Twelve Minutes 2021 · $5.6M 
Nobody Wants to Die 2024 · $4.4M 
Sovereign Tower 2026 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Quantum Break | older | $39.99 | 23,141 86% | 694k | $28M (exactly $27,762,258) | Remedy Entertainment |
| | F1® Manager 2024 | older | $34.99 | 5,554 83% | 167k | $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) | Frontier Developments |
| | Twelve Minutes | older | $24.99 | 7,408 73% | 222k | $5.6M (exactly $5,553,778) | Luis Antonio |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | Sovereign Tower | $19.99 | 3,087 93% | 93k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | The Silent Age | older | $9.99 | 5,966 93% | 179k | $1.8M (exactly $1,788,010) | House On Fire |
 | DevilConnection | $16.66 | 1,951 98% | 59k | $975k (exactly $975,110) | ChaoGames | |
 | Cris Tales | older | $39.99 | 392 66% | 12k | $470k (exactly $470,282) | Dreams Uncorporated, SYCK |
 | Homebody | older | $19.99 | 632 93% | 19k | $379k (exactly $379,010) | Game Grumps |
 | The Posthumous Investigation | $19.99 | 554 94% | 17k | $332k (exactly $332,234) | Mother Gaia Studio | |
 | Cube Chaos | $11.99 | 621 95% | 19k | $223k (exactly $223,374) | Wunarg | |
 | Ever 17 - The Out of Infinity | $29.99 | 182 82% | 5.5k | $164k (exactly $163,745) | MAGES. Inc. | |
 | Titans of the Past | $24.99 | 108 83% | 3.2k | $81k (exactly $80,968) | Devil's Dozen Games | |
 | Never 7 - The End of Infinity | $19.99 | 69 66% | 2.1k | $41k (exactly $41,379) | MAGES. Inc. | |
 | The Demons Told Me to Make This Game | · EA | $12.99 | 100 98% | 3.0k | $39k (exactly $38,970) | Haunted Dude |
 | Unaware in The City | $5.99 | 194 81% | 5.8k | $35k (exactly $34,862) | Mr. Unaware Studios | |
 | A Better World | $11.99 | 54 64% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Ludogram, ARTE France |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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