Games › Logic › Logic + Time Travel
Should I ship a Time-Travel Logic game?
Logic + Time Travel
Of 35 developers who shipped a Time-Travel 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.. 37 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×248 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 37 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) |
| Top 25% | $9.9k (exactly $9,935) |
| Top 5% | $118k (exactly $117,741) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 75 |
| Announced | 37 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Logic
- effort 2 / 10 · high · deductive rules and grids
- 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
- Logic; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Puzzle, Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 1,344 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 37 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Logic with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LovecraftianFair
- + City BuilderFair
- + NoirFair
- + HackingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DragonsFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Bullet TimeFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + TransportationFair
- + Automobile SimFair
- + CookingFair
Comparable games
| 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. |
| | Hourglass | older | $19.99 | 331 88% | 9.9k | $199k (exactly $198,501) | Cyberwave |
| | The Holy Gosh Darn | $19.99 | 276 96% | 8.3k | $166k (exactly $165,517) | Perfectly Paranormal | |
| | Rail of Möbius | older | $12.99 | 359 93% | 11k | $140k (exactly $139,902) | PHOSEPO |
| | Space Accident VR | $16.99 | 231 82% | 6.9k | $118k (exactly $117,741) | VR-WRG | |
| | Between Time: Escape Room | older | $9.99 | 326 80% | 9.8k | $98k (exactly $97,702) | mc2games |
| | Pyramids and Aliens: Escape Room | $12.99 | 191 81% | 5.7k | $74k (exactly $74,433) | mc2games | |
| | Time Lock VR 2 | older | $12.99 | 170 88% | 5.1k | $66k (exactly $66,249) | WR-VRG |
| | Dofamine VR | $9.99 | 173 82% | 5.2k | $52k (exactly $51,848) | VR-WRG | |
| | Loophole | $9.99 | 154 99% | 4.6k | $46k (exactly $46,154) | Levi Pinkert | |
| | Decide 4 God | $29.99 | 49 93% | 1.5k | $44k (exactly $44,085) | Miracle Moon | |
| | Temple of the Green Moon | $14.99 | 94 75% | 2.8k | $42k (exactly $42,272) | OLKON GAMES | |
| | 火起雪中寺 | $10.99 | 59 77% | 1.8k | $19k (exactly $19,452) | 江湖奇事录 | |
| | Breadbox | $11.99 | 34 97% | 1.0k | $12k (exactly $12,230) | Bitfall | |
| | TEAM PANIC | $3.99 | 83 62% | 2.5k | $9.9k (exactly $9,935) | Furko |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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