Games › Time Management › Time Management + Fantasy
Should I ship a Fantasy Time Management game?
Time Management + Fantasy
Of 150 developers who shipped a Fantasy 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.. 297 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×9.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×811 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 297 games are announced against 85 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $958 (exactly $958) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.5k (exactly $4,497) |
| Top 25% | $26k (exactly $26,374) |
| Top 5% | $385k (exactly $385,198) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 150 |
| Released games | 420 |
| Announced | 297 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 40% on the market, supply 25% 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.
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Fantasy
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 69,850 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 7 in 10 of the 81 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 297 games are announced against 85 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + AgricultureFair
- + Time TravelFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + LootFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Metaphor: ReFantazio | $69.99 | 25,224 89% | 757k | $53M (exactly $52,962,833) | ATLUS | |
| | The Blood of Dawnwalker | $69.99 | 15,789 86% | 474k | $33M (exactly $33,152,163) | Rebel Wolves | |
| | Loop Hero | older | $14.99 | 33,816 92% | 1.0M | $15M (exactly $15,207,055) | Four Quarters |
| | Potionomics | older | $24.99 | 6,973 90% | 209k | $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) | Voracious Games |
| | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
| | Magical Princess | $14.99 | 7,636 96% | 229k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,909) | Neotro Inc., MAGI Inc. | |
| | 小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop | older | $10.99 | 9,176 93% | 275k | $3.0M (exactly $3,025,327) | 落叶岛项目组, 橘子班 |
| | Kaiju Princess | older | $10.99 | 6,069 95% | 182k | $2.0M (exactly $2,000,949) | PantyParrot |
| | Kaiju Princess 2 | $17.99 | 3,107 96% | 93k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) | PantyParrot | |
| | Trash Goblin | $19.99 | 1,574 87% | 47k | $944k (exactly $943,928) | Spilt Milk Studios Ltd | |
| | xiuzhen idle | $5.99 | 2,313 79% | 69k | $416k (exactly $415,646) | 游戏养家工作室 | |
| | Handyman Fantasy | $7.99 | 1,607 95% | 48k | $385k (exactly $385,198) | SupaShinKen Studio | |
| | The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots | · EA | $6.99 | 1,697 72% | 51k | $356k (exactly $355,861) | 0x0Real Studio |
| | Jacksmith: Weapons and Warriors | $5.99 | 1,897 97% | 57k | $341k (exactly $340,891) | Flipline Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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