Do I ship it?

Games › Collectathon › Collectathon + Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Collectathon Time Manipulation game?

Collectathon + Time Manipulation

Only 10 developers shipped a Collectathon Time Manipulation 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, DevilConnection, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 15 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $660, ×1.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Momentum is unreadable here, too few recent games; 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue too few recent games to read momentum, 15 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Collectathon + Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 10
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.2k → $980 → $298 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Collectathon + Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 10
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $657 (exactly $657)
Top 25% $1.2k (exactly $1,188)
Top 5% $975k (exactly $975,110)
Developers, 2 yr 10
Released games 25
Announced 15
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $1.99

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 too few recent games to read momentum, supply 350% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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.

Collectathon
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Collectathon, Time Manipulation; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Physics
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
9 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cute, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 97% positive over 3,522 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $660, 1 in 4 over $1.1k, 1 in 20 over $970k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 15 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds33 devs · median $33k · 42 announced
  2. + CapitalismStrong odds76 devs · median $6.2k · 75 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair7 devs · median $14k · 8 announced
  4. + EconomyFair125 devs · median $3.8k · 151 announced
  5. + ManagementFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  6. + CrimeFair10 devs · median $3.4k · 14 announced
  7. + Level EditorFair15 devs · median $3.4k · 17 announced
  8. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $2.7k · 30 announced
  9. + SokobanFair12 devs · median $2.4k · 9 announced
  10. + MythologyFair18 devs · median $2.4k · 20 announced
  11. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $2.3k · 37 announced
  12. + Combat RacingFair10 devs · median $2.2k · 12 announced

All 178 pairs on the Collectathon page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DevilConnection 2025 · $975k Stump Simulator 2023 · $23k Coconut Simulator 2024 · $22k Coconut Simulator 2 2025 · $18k SATORI 2021 · $10k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DevilConnection $16.66 1,951 98% 59k $975k (exactly $975,110) ChaoGames
Stump Simulator older $7.99 96 86% 2.9k $23k (exactly $23,011) Dynamic Games
Coconut Simulator $0.99 735 96% 22k $22k (exactly $21,830) Dynamic Games
Coconut Simulator 2 $0.99 621 96% 19k $18k (exactly $18,444) Dynamic Games
SATORI older $7.99 43 76% 1.3k $10k (exactly $10,307) EMOTION THEORY
Cactus Simulator 2 older $7.99 35 74% 1.1k $8.4k (exactly $8,390) Dynamic Games
Accretion $9.99 21 38% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) ValarFerys
Déjà Drift · EA older $4.99 18 100% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) BAR Interactive
Claw Crane Company · EA older $7.99 7 71% 210 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) Rusimitu
Weed Simulator $0.99 53 90% 1.6k $1.6k (exactly $1,574) Dynamic Games
Grass Life Sim $0.99 40 92% 1.2k $1.2k (exactly $1,188) Dynamic Games
Grass Life Sim 2 $0.99 40 97% 1.2k $1.2k (exactly $1,188) Dynamic Games
Stump Simulator 2 $0.99 33 93% 990 $980 (exactly $980) Dynamic Games
Void Jump VR $14.99 2 50% 60 $899 (exactly $899) LemmoLab
Watermelon Simulator $0.99 26 96% 780 $772 (exactly $772) Dynamic Games

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