Do I ship it?

Games › Local Co-Op › Local Co-Op + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Co-Op Time Management game?

Local Co-Op + Time Management

Of 24 developers who shipped a Local Co-Op 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.. 55 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $5.0k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×489 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 55 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 10.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 55 announced, ×4.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Co-Op + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $1.1k → $24k → $1.7k → $599 (still earning) → $2.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Co-Op + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $5.0k (exactly $5,034)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $16,566)
Top 5% $232k (exactly $232,495)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 55
Announced 55
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Local Co-Op
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Local Co-Op, Time Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Co-op, Cooking, Local Multiplayer
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Family Friendly, Cute, Stylized
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,471 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 $5.0k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 55 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Local Co-Op with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + LootStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair11 devs · median $14k · 12 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair16 devs · median $11k · 15 announced
  4. + TriviaFair12 devs · median $7.5k · 13 announced
  5. + Action RPGFair68 devs · median $6.0k · 82 announced
  6. + ModernFair11 devs · median $3.6k · 10 announced
  7. + Dark FantasyFair40 devs · median $2.7k · 47 announced
  8. + Board GameFair35 devs · median $2.4k · 41 announced
  9. + Dungeon CrawlerFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  10. + MedievalFair46 devs · median $1.8k · 52 announced
  11. + Immersive SimFair22 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  12. + Point & ClickFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 9 announced

All 151 pairs on the Local Co-Op page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2013 · $1.4M Cinnabunny 2025 · $302k Diner Bros 2018 · $245k SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure 2025 · $232k Let's Cook Together 2020 · $101k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cook, Serve, Delicious! older $12.99 3,713 95% 111k $1.4M (exactly $1,446,956) Vertigo Gaming Inc.
Cinnabunny $24.99 403 96% 12k $302k (exactly $302,129) Reky Studios
Diner Bros older $9.99 817 90% 25k $245k (exactly $244,855) JAYFLGAMES
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure $14.99 517 70% 16k $232k (exactly $232,495) kopiforge
Let's Cook Together older $15.99 211 97% 6.3k $101k (exactly $101,217) Yellow Dot
Diner Bros 2 $14.99 147 87% 4.4k $66k (exactly $66,106) JAYFLGAMES
Cosmo's Quickstop older $19.99 83 96% 2.5k $50k (exactly $49,775) Big Sir Games
Ready, Steady, Ship! older $14.99 103 66% 3.1k $46k (exactly $46,319) Jollybits Games
Tipston Salvage $16.99 80 97% 2.4k $41k (exactly $40,776) Pontus Karlsson
Party Club $4.99 158 72% 4.7k $24k (exactly $23,653) Lucid11 Interactive
Monster Meals $6.99 79 98% 2.4k $17k (exactly $16,566) Giant Warrior Studio
Uh Oh Airlines · EA $17.99 26 69% 780 $14k (exactly $14,032) Bomas Game Studio
Ritual Party · EA $11.99 28 89% 840 $10k (exactly $10,072) Hologram Monster
Welcome to Empyreum $14.99 19 78% 570 $8.5k (exactly $8,544) Tapioca Games
Global Business Tycoon $12.99 14 57% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) Virox Studios

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