Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Horror Time Management game?

Time Management + Horror

Of 152 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 246 more are announced, ×2.6 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 $240; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×278 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 246 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 246 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 152
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $3.6k → $718 → $1.2k → $2.1k → $779 → $899 (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 152
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $959 (exactly $959)
Top 25% $6.7k (exactly $6,746)
Top 5% $132k (exactly $131,868)
Developers, 2 yr 152
Released games 292
Announced 246
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 25% on the market, supply 60% more 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Horror
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 Action, Survival Horror, Adventure
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 313,060 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $960, 1 in 4 over $6.7k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 71 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 246 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 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

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M PEAK 2025 · $72M Content Warning 2024 · $17M Pacify 2019 · $4.9M Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster 2024 · $4.5M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Pacify older $4.99 32,921 86% 988k $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) Shawn Hitchcock
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster $49.99 2,971 80% 89k $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Ravenous Devils older $4.99 9,477 92% 284k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) Bad Vices Games
Little Goody Two Shoes older $19.99 2,209 95% 66k $1.3M (exactly $1,324,737) AstralShift
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Happy's Humble Burger Farm older $19.99 1,704 93% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,889) Scythe Dev Team
Welcome to Elderfield $17.99 1,334 87% 40k $720k (exactly $719,960) Chris Cote
Sunken Engine $14.99 814 80% 24k $366k (exactly $366,056) Two Nomads Studio
Mars Attracts · EA $24.99 209 91% 6.3k $157k (exactly $156,687) Outlier
Backrooms Cleanup Crew · EA $9.99 453 91% 14k $136k (exactly $135,764) On The Bridge Games
Wasteland Bites $9.99 440 93% 13k $132k (exactly $131,868) CosmicDev
the cabin game · EA $11.99 362 86% 11k $130k (exactly $130,211) Twisted Corridor👻
Retail Hell $7.99 532 95% 16k $128k (exactly $127,520) LEAP Game Studios

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