Do I ship it?

GamesCraftingCrafting + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crafting Time Management game?

Crafting + Time Management

Of 224 developers who shipped a Crafting 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.. 371 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 $2.9k, ×4.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $700k, ×1121 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 371 games are announced against 142 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.7 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 371 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Crafting + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 224
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.7k → $5.8k → $719 → $5.7k → $2.5k → $3.5k → $3.0k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Crafting + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 224
Bottom 30% $713 (exactly $713)
Median $2.9k (exactly $2,936)
Top 25% $22k (exactly $22,178)
Top 5% $704k (exactly $704,206)
Developers, 2 yr 224
Released games 443
Announced 371
Effort 5 / 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 flat on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Crafting
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
Crafting, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Resource Management
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Relaxing, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 41,624 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 $2.9k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $700k.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 99 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 371 games are announced against 142 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds62 devs · median $15k · 65 announced
  2. + SportsFair24 devs · median $37k · 26 announced
  3. + Turn-BasedFair16 devs · median $17k · 24 announced
  4. + IdlerFair235 devs · median $1.7k · 338 announced
  5. + SolitaireFair12 devs · median $809 · 20 announced
  6. + LovecraftianPoor odds17 devs · median $174k · 39 announced
  7. + MMORPGPoor odds25 devs · median $111k · 155 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Poor odds19 devs · median $90k · 50 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds160 devs · median $77k · 369 announced
  10. + WesternPoor odds13 devs · median $69k · 23 announced
  11. + Bullet HeavenPoor odds20 devs · median $44k · 25 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds17 devs · median $39k · 30 announced

All 200 pairs on the Crafting page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Tavern Master older $14.99 12,613 92% 378k $5.7M (exactly $5,672,066) Untitled Studio
Potionomics older $24.99 6,973 90% 209k $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) Voracious Games
Kebab Chefs! - Restaurant Simulator $17.99 7,019 83% 211k $3.8M (exactly $3,788,154) Biotech Gameworks
News Tower $24.99 4,316 94% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,235,705) Sparrow Night
BOOK OF HOURS older $24.99 4,129 89% 124k $3.1M (exactly $3,095,511) Weather Factory
Crossroads Inn Anniversary Edition older $14.99 3,579 55% 107k $1.6M (exactly $1,609,476) Klabater
Recycling Center Simulator $19.99 2,594 84% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,555,622) Balas Games
Farmer's Life older $19.99 2,373 89% 71k $1.4M (exactly $1,423,088) FreeMind S.A.
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Bloomtown: A Different Story $24.99 1,428 85% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,070,572) Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games
Trash Goblin $19.99 1,574 87% 47k $944k (exactly $943,928) Spilt Milk Studios Ltd
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
KuloNiku: Bowl Up! $11.99 2,295 96% 69k $826k (exactly $825,512) Gambir Studio

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