Do I ship it?

GamesTime ManagementTime Management + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Time Management game?

Time Management + Incremental

Of 203 developers who shipped an Incremental 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.. 195 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is flat on the market; 195 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.6 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 195 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 203
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $776 → $238 → $1.3k → $1.4k → $1.0k → $799 (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 203
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $5.3k (exactly $5,273)
Top 5% $92k (exactly $92,308)
Developers, 2 yr 203
Released games 449
Announced 195
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 flat on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Time Management, Incremental; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Idler, Management
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 11,802 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 $750, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $92k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 99 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 195 games are announced against 126 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Management with a different second tag, 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Touhou Mystia's Izakaya older $5.99 29,517 98% 886k $5.3M (exactly $5,304,205) 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社
Ravenous Devils older $4.99 9,477 92% 284k $1.4M (exactly $1,418,707) Bad Vices Games
Sex, Secrets & Used Tech $16.99 1,291 85% 39k $658k (exactly $658,023) WorkNite Games, 78Games
Handyman Legend older $6.99 2,066 89% 62k $433k (exactly $433,240) SupaShinKen Studio
xiuzhen idle $5.99 2,313 79% 69k $416k (exactly $415,646) 游戏养家工作室
Handyman Fantasy $7.99 1,607 95% 48k $385k (exactly $385,198) SupaShinKen Studio
FACEMINER $7.99 1,517 90% 46k $364k (exactly $363,625) Wristwork
Capybara Spa older $7.99 1,345 94% 40k $322k (exactly $322,396) Cozy Bee Games
Data Center $8.99 916 76% 27k $247k (exactly $247,045) Waseku
Fantasy Aquarium $6.99 833 79% 25k $175k (exactly $174,680) MOON SCAPE
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Widget Inc. $4.99 761 84% 23k $114k (exactly $113,922) Leaping Turtle
ROGUE LIGHT DECK BUILDER $3.99 888 94% 27k $106k (exactly $106,294) Gil Lawson
挂机手游模拟器 $2.99 1,111 91% 33k $100k (exactly $99,657) 天光

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