Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Hacking

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Hacking Time Management game?

Time Management + Hacking

Only 18 developers shipped a Hacking Time Management 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, Net.Attack() - Code or Die!, 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.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×257 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 24 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Hacking
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.7k → $5.5k → $987 (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Hacking: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $7.3k (exactly $7,260)
Top 5% $122k (exactly $122,247)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 31
Announced 24
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $8.00

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 100% more developers than 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Hacking
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
Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Action, Economy
Price point
$8.00 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.00.

The top 10 games average 73% positive over 752 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $7.2k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

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

Uplink 2006 · $637k Net.Attack() - Code or Die! 2026 · $122k Carmen Sandiego 2025 · $77k Hacker Evolution 2010 · $37k Web Host Simulator 2025 · EA · $31k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Uplink older $11.99 1,771 89% 53k $637k (exactly $637,029) Introversion Software
Net.Attack() - Code or Die! $7.99 510 80% 15k $122k (exactly $122,247) ByteRockers' Games
Carmen Sandiego $29.99 86 67% 2.6k $77k (exactly $77,374) Gameloft
Hacker Evolution older $2.99 417 71% 13k $37k (exactly $37,405) exosyphen studios
Web Host Simulator · EA $24.99 42 26% 1.3k $31k (exactly $31,487) Chibum
Sapper - Defuse The Bomb Simulator older $9.99 73 34% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,878) Live Motion Games
Codename: Terranova $23.99 23 69% 690 $17k (exactly $16,553) ACGames
Retro Hacker older $9.99 29 89% 870 $8.7k (exactly $8,691) Matthew Diaz
Data Center Simulator Game · EA $22.00 11 9% 330 $7.3k (exactly $7,260) DC Uplink
Games Tycoon $5.99 39 53% 1.2k $7.0k (exactly $7,008) Insignis Games
Untrusted: hackers at large $12.99 14 92% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) playuntrusted.com
Forgotten 23 $12.99 14 92% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) KovalGames
RedLantern | 赤提灯 $4.99 9 66% 270 $1.3k (exactly $1,347) KM Studios
Cloud Server Simulator · EA $9.99 4 25% 120 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Realityocean Games

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