Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Futuristic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Futuristic Time Management game?

Time Management + Futuristic

Of 64 developers who shipped a Futuristic 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.. 92 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×240 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 92 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 92 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Futuristic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 64
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $240 → $119 → $5.0k → $299 → $1.5k → $1.0k → $538 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Futuristic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 64
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 5% $114k (exactly $113,922)
Developers, 2 yr 64
Released games 143
Announced 92
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 35% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Futuristic
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
Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Action, Resource Management
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Funny
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 17,867 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.4k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 92 games are announced against 38 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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

The Alters 2025 · $16M Cliff Empire 2019 · $2.3M Mind Scanners 2021 · $558k MECHANICA: A Ballad of the Rabbit and Mercury 2021 · $498k Subterrain: Mines of Titan 2024 · $394k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Cliff Empire older $17.99 4,194 87% 126k $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) Lion's Shade
Mind Scanners older $16.99 1,095 78% 33k $558k (exactly $558,122) The Outer Zone
MECHANICA: A Ballad of the Rabbit and Mercury older $19.99 830 95% 25k $498k (exactly $497,751) Loser/s
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Cook Serve Forever $29.99 333 69% 10k $300k (exactly $299,600) Vertigo Gaming Inc.
Eventide Matter $5.99 927 95% 28k $167k (exactly $166,582) Ottropi Games
The Final Earth 2 older $9.99 407 97% 12k $122k (exactly $121,978) Florian van Strien
Widget Inc. $4.99 761 84% 23k $114k (exactly $113,922) Leaping Turtle
SYMMETRY older $11.99 147 53% 4.4k $53k (exactly $52,876) Sleepless Clinic
Alien Market Simulator $12.99 124 83% 3.7k $48k (exactly $48,323) Silly Sloth Studios, Kheddo Entertainme… (Silly Sloth Studios, Kheddo Entertainment)
Chaos Express: Delivery Simulator · EA $13.37 116 77% 3.5k $47k (exactly $46,528) AVE Team
Space Drilling Station · EA $19.99 63 90% 1.9k $38k (exactly $37,781) Ayota Games
Burger Bots Inc. $7.99 109 91% 3.3k $26k (exactly $26,127) Normogames
Color Factory: Automation Meets Canvas $4.99 79 87% 2.4k $12k (exactly $11,826) Bosphorus Games
soul Interface · EA $12.99 25 76% 750 $9.7k (exactly $9,742) soulless technologies

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