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Should I ship a Time Manipulation Life Sim?
Life Sim + Time Manipulation
Only 15 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Life Sim 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, Time Flies, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 26 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×350 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $298 (exactly $298) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) |
| Top 5% | $166k (exactly $166,389) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 45 |
| Announced | 26 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $1.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Life Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Time Manipulation
- 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
- Life Sim, Time Manipulation; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Physics, Simulation
- Price point
- $1.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Cute, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 2,115 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 26 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
Tree Simulator 2022 2021 · $184k 
Time Flies 2025 · $166k 
Unaware in The City 2024 · $35k 
Stump Simulator 2023 · $23k 
Coconut Simulator 2024 · $22k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tree Simulator 2022 | older | $5.99 | 1,022 97% | 31k | $184k (exactly $183,653) | Revmatek |
| | Time Flies | $14.99 | 370 96% | 11k | $166k (exactly $166,389) | Playables | |
| | Unaware in The City | $5.99 | 194 81% | 5.8k | $35k (exactly $34,862) | Mr. Unaware Studios | |
| | Stump Simulator | older | $7.99 | 96 86% | 2.9k | $23k (exactly $23,011) | Dynamic Games |
| | Coconut Simulator | $0.99 | 735 96% | 22k | $22k (exactly $21,830) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Coconut Simulator 2 | $0.99 | 621 96% | 19k | $18k (exactly $18,444) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Симулятор ПВЗ | older | $1.99 | 155 77% | 4.7k | $9.3k (exactly $9,254) | r0kee |
 | Cactus Simulator 2 | older | $7.99 | 35 74% | 1.1k | $8.4k (exactly $8,390) | Dynamic Games |
 | Hot Springs | 温泉 (Onsen) | $3.99 | 51 74% | 1.5k | $6.1k (exactly $6,105) | Peach Party | |
 | IBIS AM | older | $1.99 | 83 86% | 2.5k | $5.0k (exactly $4,955) | The Water Museum |
 | Macht: Cosmic Engine | · EA | $24.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Kestro Games |
 | Medieval Tavern Simulator | · EA | $10.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $2.0k (exactly $1,978) | Superwolf Game Studio |
 | Weed Simulator | $0.99 | 53 90% | 1.6k | $1.6k (exactly $1,574) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Grass Life Sim | $0.99 | 40 92% | 1.2k | $1.2k (exactly $1,188) | Dynamic Games | |
 | Grass Life Sim 2 | $0.99 | 40 97% | 1.2k | $1.2k (exactly $1,188) | Dynamic Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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