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Should I ship a Crafting Time Manipulation game?
Crafting + Time Manipulation
Only 11 developers shipped a Crafting 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, Million Depth, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 19 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×546 the market median. Revenue is up 70% on the market; 19 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $713 (exactly $713) |
| Top 5% | $343k (exactly $343,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 11 |
| Released games | 25 |
| Announced | 19 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 up 70% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
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 Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Crafting, Time Manipulation
- Price point
- $4.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 9 games average 92% positive over 729 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 19 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Crafting with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + SportsFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + IdlerFair
- + SolitaireFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + WesternPoor odds
- + Bullet HeavenPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
Comparable games
No Time 2019 · EA · $825k 
Gravity Field 2023 · $700k 
Shadwen 2016 · $535k 
Million Depth 2025 · $343k 
Magic Research 2 2024 · $110k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | No Time | · EA older | $12.99 | 2,117 97% | 64k | $825k (exactly $824,995) | Lost in Days Studio |
| | Gravity Field | older | $29.99 | 778 79% | 23k | $700k (exactly $699,967) | Kazakov Studios |
| | Shadwen | older | $16.99 | 1,049 77% | 31k | $535k (exactly $534,675) | Frozenbyte |
| | Million Depth | $16.99 | 673 93% | 20k | $343k (exactly $343,028) | Cyber Space Biotope | |
| | Magic Research 2 | older | $5.99 | 610 92% | 18k | $110k (exactly $109,617) | Maticolotto |
 | Magic Research | older | $4.99 | 410 90% | 12k | $61k (exactly $61,377) | Maticolotto |
 | Daughter of The Void | · EA | $9.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) | Shaybabe |
 | Burger Cooking Simulator | older | $4.99 | 25 52% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | Pickle Drugs |
 | A Very Bad Christmas Eve | older | $4.99 | 14 57% | 420 | $2.1k (exactly $2,096) | Incineration Productions |
 | Don't Give Up: Not Ready to Die | older | $1.99 | 35 74% | 1.1k | $2.1k (exactly $2,090) | Delta Arcade |
 | Hardware Store & Workshop Simulator | · EA | $0.99 | 24 79% | 720 | $713 (exactly $713) | Superwolf Game Studio |
 | Ultimate Car Company Tycoon | · EA | $6.99 | 3 33% | 90 | $629 (exactly $629) | Tengrava Games |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games | |
 | Duty Free Shop Simulator | · EA | $4.99 | 4 25% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | CLOWN MAGIC |
 | D.I.G. — Discover Infinite Galaxies | · EA | $4.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | BloomSpaceGames |
 | Voxelony | · EA | $3.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | ShinyScale Games |
 | Mini-Map | $0.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $30 (exactly $30) | TokAyı Games | |
 | Monster and Snakes 1.1 | $1.65 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Thomas van Esdonk |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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