Do I ship it?

Games › Grid-Based Movement › Grid-Based Movement + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Grid-Based Movement Time Management game?

Grid-Based Movement + Time Management

Of 22 developers who shipped a Grid-Based Movement 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.. 30 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $390, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×169 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 30 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Grid-Based Movement + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $20k → $179 → $539 → $1.0k → $45 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Grid-Based Movement + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $45 (exactly $45)
Median $390 (exactly $390)
Top 25% $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Top 5% $80k (exactly $80,360)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 66
Announced 30
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 15% fewer 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Grid-Based Movement
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Grid-Based Movement, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Procedural Generation, Turn-Based Tactics, Adventure
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Colorful, Relaxing, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 83% positive over 586 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $390, 1 in 4 over $1.0k, 1 in 20 over $80k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Grid-Based Movement with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + HistoricalFair22 devs · median $3.0k · 30 announced
  2. + EconomyFair20 devs · median $1.2k · 29 announced
  3. + AutomationFair28 devs · median $959 · 26 announced
  4. + MiningFair12 devs · median $899 · 14 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair17 devs · median $809 · 17 announced
  6. + BuildingFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  7. + HackingFair14 devs · median $719 · 11 announced
  8. + SokobanFair143 devs · median $657 · 135 announced
  9. + ProgrammingFair23 devs · median $599 · 24 announced
  10. + DogsFair14 devs · median $599 · 7 announced
  11. + PlatformerFair23 devs · median $539 · 18 announced
  12. + Puzzle PlatformerFair62 devs · median $449 · 56 announced

All 126 pairs on the Grid-Based Movement page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Subterrain: Mines of Titan 2024 · $394k Midnight Sin 2026 · $232k Drag and Drop Medieval 2024 · $82k Together in Battle 2025 · $80k Sweet Dreams Alex 2023 · $26k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Midnight Sin $19.99 387 82% 12k $232k (exactly $232,084) Faerin Games
Drag and Drop Medieval older $29.99 91 85% 2.7k $82k (exactly $81,873) Galactic Geckon
Together in Battle $19.99 134 90% 4.0k $80k (exactly $80,360) Sinister Design
Sweet Dreams Alex older $14.99 58 94% 1.7k $26k (exactly $26,083) Clarity Games
Undeadly older $14.99 45 66% 1.4k $20k (exactly $20,236) Irreflex Studios
Meet me at NooN older $9.99 55 100% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Pandaroo Interactive
Linked Worlds older $9.99 26 100% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) NicoDiti
Onychomp : Lush journey $12.99 18 100% 540 $7.0k (exactly $7,015) Howl Studio
Dungeon Lad older $5.99 23 91% 690 $4.1k (exactly $4,133) Ghost Goats Games
Fungal Colony Sim 2 $7.99 13 61% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) Skylor Beck
Delta Vector - Turn Based Racing $3.99 12 83% 360 $1.4k (exactly $1,436) Felipe Pechmann
SproutBound $4.99 7 57% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Cyberfrog Systems
Going Loco $9.99 3 100% 90 $899 (exactly $899) David Addis
Port Shipping Tycoon $4.99 5 0% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Urban Isotope
Hexara $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Omnivorian
Books Upon Books - Bookshop Simulator $8.99 2 50% 60 $539 (exactly $539) Mellow Flame Games

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