Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Mystery

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mystery Time Management game?

Time Management + Mystery

Of 98 developers who shipped a Mystery 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.. 180 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $990, ×2.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×771 the market median. Revenue is up 60% on the market; 180 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 60% on the market, 180 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Mystery
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 98
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.0k → $3.6k → $718 → $1.9k → $599 → $719 → $1.5k (still earning) → $629 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Mystery: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 98
Bottom 30% $270 (exactly $270)
Median $987 (exactly $987)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,217)
Top 5% $366k (exactly $366,056)
Developers, 2 yr 98
Released games 214
Announced 180
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 up 60% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mystery
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Exploration, Multiple Endings
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 311,461 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $990, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 180 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dungeon CrawlerFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  4. + AgricultureFair57 devs · median $2.3k · 73 announced
  5. + Time TravelFair17 devs · median $2.2k · 19 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair27 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  7. + LootFair34 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  8. + Turn-Based TacticsFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  9. + AutomationFair162 devs · median $1.2k · 191 announced
  10. + Bullet HellFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  11. + ThrillerFair42 devs · median $1.1k · 65 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair53 devs · median $1.0k · 65 announced

All 179 pairs on the Time Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PEAK 2025 · $72M Content Warning 2024 · $17M Pacify 2019 · $4.9M Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring 2021 · $2.6M Little Goody Two Shoes 2023 · $1.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Pacify older $4.99 32,921 86% 988k $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) Shawn Hitchcock
Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring older $13.99 6,310 95% 189k $2.6M (exactly $2,648,307) 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame)
Little Goody Two Shoes older $19.99 2,209 95% 66k $1.3M (exactly $1,324,737) AstralShift
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Mystwood Manor older $19.99 1,362 85% 41k $817k (exactly $816,791) Faerin Games
Welcome to Elderfield $17.99 1,334 87% 40k $720k (exactly $719,960) Chris Cote
Backrooms: Lost Tape older $15.99 1,334 81% 40k $640k (exactly $639,920) Cortez Productions
Do No Harm $15.99 896 74% 27k $430k (exactly $429,811) Darts Games
Sunken Engine $14.99 814 80% 24k $366k (exactly $366,056) Two Nomads Studio
Midnight Sin $19.99 387 82% 12k $232k (exactly $232,084) Faerin Games
Asbury Pines · EA $12.99 558 90% 17k $217k (exactly $217,453) Chaystar Unlimited LLC
Mindcop $14.99 413 94% 12k $186k (exactly $185,726) Andre Gareis
DISCOPUP $9.99 520 98% 16k $156k (exactly $155,844) Parry Mechanics
Tostchu $7.99 594 84% 18k $142k (exactly $142,382) Ravenscape Collective

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