Do I ship it?

GamesTime ManipulationTime Manipulation + Grid-Based Movement

Specimen · observed

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

Time Manipulation + Grid-Based Movement

Only 14 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Grid-Based Movement game 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, Loophole, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 24 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $960, ×2.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $46k, ×97 the market median. Revenue is up 220% on the market; 24 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 220% on the market, 24 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Grid-Based Movement
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 14
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $298 → $5.4k → $959 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Grid-Based Movement: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 14
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $13k (exactly $13,187)
Top 5% $46k (exactly $46,154)
Developers, 2 yr 14
Released games 31
Announced 24
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 up 220% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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
Grid-Based Movement
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, Grid-Based Movement
Price point
$8.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 348 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $960, 1 in 4 over $13k, 1 in 20 over $46k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Manipulation with a different second tag, 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
Loophole $9.99 154 99% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Levi Pinkert
Toroban $20.00 60 86% 1.8k $36k (exactly $36,000) Hebert Games LLC
Red Ronin older $7.99 119 87% 3.6k $29k (exactly $28,524) Wired Dreams Studio
Slayaway Camp 2 $12.99 49 93% 1.5k $19k (exactly $19,095) Blue Wizard Digital
Meet me at NooN older $9.99 55 100% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) Pandaroo Interactive
Temporal Titans · EA $9.99 44 95% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Lost Tower Games
Sandy's Great Escape older $9.99 43 93% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,887) Mocha Moose Games
Peppy's Adventure older $7.99 30 100% 900 $7.2k (exactly $7,191) Pepite Studios
Remnants of the Rift $14.99 15 86% 450 $6.7k (exactly $6,746) Bromio
Chronescher older $4.99 44 84% 1.3k $6.6k (exactly $6,587) PurpleSloth
Ricave $14.99 12 100% 360 $5.4k (exactly $5,396) Rogueatic Games
A World To Come $7.99 4 100% 120 $959 (exactly $959) Archytas, Saturn Rising Labs
GraviChess $4.99 5 100% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Lumpy Software
Layers of Bust $8.99 2 50% 60 $539 (exactly $539) CupCupMug
Nested $5.99 3 100% 90 $539 (exactly $539) Nathan Sioui

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