Do I ship it?

GamesLootLoot + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Loot Time Management game?

Loot + Time Management

Of 34 developers who shipped a Loot 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.. 47 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $630. Revenue is flat on the market; 47 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 47 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Loot + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $26k → $150 → $21k → $1.2k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Loot + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $1.5k (exactly $1,468)
Top 25% $19k (exactly $19,012)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 67
Announced 47
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 flat on the market, supply 180% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Loot
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Loot, Time Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Crafting, Inventory Management, Simulation
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 11,138 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $1.5k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 7 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceStrong odds28 devs · median $19k · 22 announced
  2. + Local Co-OpStrong odds22 devs · median $7.3k · 21 announced
  3. + SteampunkStrong odds7 devs · median $2.2k · 10 announced
  4. + CapitalismFair36 devs · median $14k · 52 announced
  5. + Turn-Based StrategyFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  6. + JRPGFair34 devs · median $5.5k · 41 announced
  7. + EconomyFair74 devs · median $4.6k · 114 announced
  8. + IdlerFair181 devs · median $4.5k · 256 announced
  9. + CatsFair17 devs · median $3.4k · 24 announced
  10. + IncrementalFair145 devs · median $2.9k · 236 announced
  11. + Creature CollectorFair51 devs · median $2.9k · 67 announced
  12. + CollectathonFair90 devs · median $1.9k · 95 announced

All 159 pairs on the Loot page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
The Wild at Heart older $24.99 722 95% 22k $541k (exactly $541,283) Moonlight Kids
道衍诀 · EA older $11.99 988 49% 30k $355k (exactly $355,384) 宁德动游网络科技有限公司
Jacksmith: Weapons and Warriors $5.99 1,897 97% 57k $341k (exactly $340,891) Flipline Studios
懒人修仙传2 · EA older $7.99 873 71% 26k $209k (exactly $209,258) 托更的修罗
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
挂机手游模拟器 $2.99 1,111 91% 33k $100k (exactly $99,657) 天光
Rocky Idle $9.99 308 83% 9.2k $92k (exactly $92,308) Rocky Games Studio
Diablo The Abyss older $7.99 207 83% 6.2k $50k (exactly $49,618) Friday Night
Eggstreme Farming $6.99 169 73% 5.1k $35k (exactly $35,439) Sagitta Studios
Crafter's Hollow $9.99 69 53% 2.1k $21k (exactly $20,679) Wylde Wisp Games
长路江湖 - 九州群芳 $4.99 127 57% 3.8k $19k (exactly $19,012) SourceIn Games
Deadline Savior · EA $4.99 56 96% 1.7k $8.4k (exactly $8,383) Cointinue Games

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