Games › Interactive Fiction › Interactive Fiction + Time Travel
Should I ship a Time-Travel Interactive Fiction?
Interactive Fiction + Time Travel
Of 37 developers who shipped a Time-Travel Interactive Fiction 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.. 58 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 $5.9k, ×13 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $960; 1 in 20 cleared $580k, ×1223 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 58 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $959 (exactly $959) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.9k (exactly $5,940) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $33,583) |
| Top 5% | $581k (exactly $581,109) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 37 |
| Released games | 104 |
| Announced | 58 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 22%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
- Time Travel
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Interactive Fiction; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Visual Novel, Choices Matter
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Emotional
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 80% positive over 5,123 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $960. 6 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 58 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Interactive Fiction with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVFair
- + Match 3Fair
- + VampiresFair
- + SportsFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + PiratesFair
- + DrivingFair
- + DiplomacyFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Board GameFair
- + SnowFair
- + BuildingFair
Comparable games
A Perfect Day 2022 · $1.0M 
Rue Valley 2025 · $857k 
Old Skies 2025 · $581k 
Critters for Sale 2021 · $541k 
ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos 2021 · $341k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | A Perfect Day | older | $19.99 | 1,733 84% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,280) | Perfect Day Studio |
| | Rue Valley | $14.99 | 1,905 69% | 57k | $857k (exactly $856,678) | Emotion Spark Studio | |
| | Old Skies | $19.99 | 969 93% | 29k | $581k (exactly $581,109) | Wadjet Eye Games | |
| | Critters for Sale | older | $9.99 | 1,805 94% | 54k | $541k (exactly $540,958) | Sonoshee |
| | ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos | older | $29.99 | 379 95% | 11k | $341k (exactly $340,986) | MyDearest Inc. |
 | Eternal Threads | older | $19.99 | 543 87% | 16k | $326k (exactly $325,637) | Cosmonaut Studios |
 | Sexbot | $14.99 | 723 86% | 22k | $325k (exactly $325,133) | Llamamann Games | |
 | Kraken Academy!! | older | $9.99 | 737 91% | 22k | $221k (exactly $220,879) | Happy Broccoli Games |
 | Radiolight | $14.99 | 414 90% | 12k | $186k (exactly $186,176) | Krystof Knesl | |
 | Shanghai Summer | older | $12.99 | 393 89% | 12k | $153k (exactly $153,152) | FUTU Studio |
 | A Tithe in Blood | $14.99 | 196 86% | 5.9k | $88k (exactly $88,141) | Studio Élan, Studio Elan | |
 | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
 | Time Space Rebuild | $4.99 | 377 76% | 11k | $56k (exactly $56,437) | INNOVATION DREAM | |
 | Train and Tame | $9.99 | 184 65% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $55,145) | Tames Games | |
 | 透明的她与真实的我 | $10.99 | 108 87% | 3.2k | $36k (exactly $35,608) | 可味玩KawayiPlay | |
 | Timestamps: Lost Love | $19.99 | 56 82% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $33,583) | Motkeyz Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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