Do I ship it?

GamesTime ManipulationTime Manipulation + Female Protagonist

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Female-Led Time Manipulation game?

Time Manipulation + Female Protagonist

Of 32 developers who shipped a Female-Led Time Manipulation 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.. 59 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.1 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×657 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 59 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.1 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 59 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Female Protagonist
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 32
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $896 → $6.1k → $809 → $21k → $6.0k → $395 (still earning) → $4.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Female Protagonist: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 32
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,948)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $34,862)
Top 5% $312k (exactly $311,860)
Developers, 2 yr 32
Released games 113
Announced 59
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 85% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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 Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Female Protagonist
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Side Scroller
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 3,323 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $34k, 1 in 20 over $310k.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Touhou Luna Nights older $17.99 13,776 97% 413k $7.4M (exactly $7,434,907) Team Ladybug, WSS playground
The Entropy Centre older $19.99 3,359 89% 101k $2.0M (exactly $2,014,392) Stubby Games
Timespinner older $19.99 2,823 86% 85k $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) Lunar Ray Games
The Gardens Between older $19.99 2,362 93% 71k $1.4M (exactly $1,416,491) The Voxel Agents
Timelie older $17.99 1,783 95% 53k $962k (exactly $962,285) Urnique Studio
NUTS older $24.99 884 88% 27k $663k (exactly $662,735) Joon, Pol, Muutsch, Char & Torfi
Shadwen older $16.99 1,049 77% 31k $535k (exactly $534,675) Frozenbyte
Chrono Gear: Warden of Time $17.99 950 98% 29k $513k (exactly $512,715) Team Chrono Gear, GalaxyTrail
Cris Tales older $39.99 392 66% 12k $470k (exactly $470,282) Dreams Uncorporated, SYCK
Lucifer Within Us older $19.99 635 73% 19k $381k (exactly $380,809) Kitfox Games
Ascend to ZERO $11.99 867 82% 26k $312k (exactly $311,860) Flyway Games, Inc.
DragonLoop $8.99 567 91% 17k $153k (exactly $152,920) 沙因, 小阮
Super Puzzled Cat $16.99 183 98% 5.5k $93k (exactly $93,275) Penguin Mug Games
Theta and Paralldox on Worldlines $9.99 276 97% 8.3k $83k (exactly $82,717) XXela
Otherskin $29.99 63 69% 1.9k $57k (exactly $56,681) Game Atelier
The Demons Told Me to Make This Game · EA $12.99 100 98% 3.0k $39k (exactly $38,970) Haunted Dude
Unaware in The City $5.99 194 81% 5.8k $35k (exactly $34,862) Mr. Unaware Studios
RewindGirl $7.99 89 92% 2.7k $21k (exactly $21,333) べすとまん
Mai: Child of Ages $14.99 34 88% 1.0k $15k (exactly $15,290) Chubby Pixel

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