Do I ship it?

GamesTime ManagementTime Management + Crime

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Crime Time Management game?

Time Management + Crime

Of 30 developers who shipped a Crime 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.. 86 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×247 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 86 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 86 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Crime
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $22k → $5.8k → $599 → $5.1k (still earning) → $718 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Crime: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,662)
Top 5% $155k (exactly $155,101)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 69
Announced 86
Effort 6 / 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 90% on the market, supply 800% 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.

Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Crime
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Immersive Sim
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 3,208 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $5.6k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 4 in 10 of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dungeon CrawlerFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  4. + AgricultureFair57 devs · median $2.3k · 73 announced
  5. + Time TravelFair17 devs · median $2.2k · 19 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair27 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  7. + LootFair34 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  8. + Turn-Based TacticsFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  9. + AutomationFair162 devs · median $1.2k · 191 announced
  10. + Bullet HellFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  11. + ThrillerFair42 devs · median $1.1k · 65 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair53 devs · median $1.0k · 65 announced

All 179 pairs on the Time Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience older $19.99 2,596 91% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) Delve Interactive
Ravenous Devils older $4.99 9,477 92% 284k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) Bad Vices Games
The Chef's Shift $12.99 1,948 97% 58k $759k (exactly $759,136) Panitia GameDev
Godlike Burger older $19.99 796 75% 24k $477k (exactly $477,361) Liquid Pug
Prison Boss VR older $19.99 414 87% 12k $248k (exactly $248,276) TREBUCHET
I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator · EA $12.99 398 90% 12k $155k (exactly $155,101) Bunch'o'Nerds
GUARDS! older $9.99 418 68% 13k $125k (exactly $125,275) WYLDERZONE, Lowkey GameDev
Rina's Undercover Train Operation $13.99 286 70% 8.6k $120k (exactly $120,034) Metamorphose
Undead Inc. older $19.99 158 27% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Rightsized Games
Scam Center Simulator: UnderKingdom · EA $10.99 168 75% 5.0k $55k (exactly $55,390) Jiao Games
Police Officer $11.99 125 65% 3.8k $45k (exactly $44,962) Turquoise Games
Toll Booth Simulator $12.99 91 71% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,463) SifDev
Find or be Found $7.99 117 69% 3.5k $28k (exactly $28,045) Studio Downstairs
Hustlin' Every Day · EA $6.99 27 92% 810 $5.7k (exactly $5,662) Corporeality Entertainment
Untrusted: hackers at large $12.99 14 92% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) playuntrusted.com
Is Guilty $4.99 34 97% 1.0k $5.1k (exactly $5,090) KeeraGames

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