Do I ship it?

Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Logic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Logic game?

Time Manipulation + Logic

Of 52 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Logic 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.. 66 more are announced, ×2.1 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 $150; 1 in 20 cleared $82k, ×174 the market median. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 66 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 125% on the market, 66 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Logic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 52
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.0k → $4.0k → $5.3k → $298 → $3.1k → $2.2k → $479 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Logic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 52
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $3.1k (exactly $3,146)
Top 5% $83k (exactly $82,717)
Developers, 2 yr 52
Released games 136
Announced 66
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 up 125% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Logic
effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation, Logic; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Sokoban
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,466 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 $600, 1 in 4 over $3.1k, 1 in 20 over $82k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Manipulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Gardens Between 2018 · $1.4M Braid, Anniversary Edition 2024 · $1.1M Gravity Field 2023 · $700k Hourglass 2021 · $199k Super Puzzled Cat 2025 · $93k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Gardens Between older $19.99 2,362 93% 71k $1.4M (exactly $1,416,491) The Voxel Agents
Braid, Anniversary Edition older $19.99 1,761 92% 53k $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) Thekla, Inc.
Gravity Field older $29.99 778 79% 23k $700k (exactly $699,967) Kazakov Studios
Hourglass older $19.99 331 88% 9.9k $199k (exactly $198,501) Cyberwave
Super Puzzled Cat $16.99 183 98% 5.5k $93k (exactly $93,275) Penguin Mug Games
Train World older $34.99 85 75% 2.6k $89k (exactly $89,224) Turn Point Games
Check Inn $14.99 197 84% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) KishMish Games
Theta and Paralldox on Worldlines $9.99 276 97% 8.3k $83k (exactly $82,717) XXela
Time Lock VR 2 older $12.99 170 88% 5.1k $66k (exactly $66,249) WR-VRG
Lord Ambermaze $14.99 131 91% 3.9k $59k (exactly $58,911) Potata Company
Loophole $9.99 154 99% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Levi Pinkert
Toroban $20.00 60 86% 1.8k $36k (exactly $36,000) Hebert Games LLC
Causal Loop $19.99 49 91% 1.5k $29k (exactly $29,385) Mirebound Interactive
Paragnosia $3.99 228 92% 6.8k $27k (exactly $27,292) Sine Coda
Paragnosia: Museum $5.99 139 87% 4.2k $25k (exactly $24,978) Sine Coda
Slayaway Camp 2 $12.99 49 93% 1.5k $19k (exactly $19,095) Blue Wizard Digital

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