Do I ship it?

GamesDungeon CrawlerDungeon Crawler + Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Time Manipulation

Only 16 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Dungeon Crawler 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, Titans of the Past, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 25 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×170 the market median. Revenue is up 1705% on the market; 25 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 1705% on the market, 25 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 16
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $303k → $2.9k → $4.8k → $26k → $2.7k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 16
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,726)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,783)
Top 5% $81k (exactly $80,968)
Developers, 2 yr 16
Released games 34
Announced 25
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 1705% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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.

Dungeon Crawler
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
Dungeon Crawler, Time Manipulation; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Procedural Generation
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 458 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 $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $80k.

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. 25 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Time ManagementFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  3. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  5. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  7. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  8. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 announced
  9. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  10. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  11. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced

All 175 pairs on the Dungeon Crawler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
灵墟 older $10.99 946 86% 28k $312k (exactly $311,896) HappyTall Game
Metro Simulator 2 older $14.99 674 65% 20k $303k (exactly $303,098) KishMish Games
Titans of the Past $24.99 108 83% 3.2k $81k (exactly $80,968) Devil's Dozen Games
Time Lock VR 2 older $12.99 170 88% 5.1k $66k (exactly $66,249) WR-VRG
Lord Ambermaze $14.99 131 91% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Potata Company
Magic Potion Explorer older $9.99 95 55% 2.9k $28k (exactly $28,472) ARTIFACTS
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Huge Jaws older $24.99 23 65% 690 $17k (exactly $17,243) Piece Of Voxel
Moon Watch · EA $9.99 56 57% 1.7k $17k (exactly $16,783) Jaspel
Ricave $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Rogueatic Games
miniquest $4.99 24 100% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Dennis Gallant
Grimslair $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) ThunderRam Studios
Tower of Jank $6.99 13 92% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Matas Dragūnas
Depths of Providence $2.99 14 100% 420 $1.3k (exactly $1,256) Ryan Lutz
Layers of Bust $8.99 2 50% 60 $539 (exactly $539) CupCupMug

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