Games › Perma Death › Perma Death + Time Management
Should I ship a Perma Death Time Management game?
Perma Death + Time Management
Of 49 developers who shipped a Perma Death 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.. 66 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $540, ×1.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $150. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 66 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $539 (exactly $539) |
| Top 25% | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 5% | $51k (exactly $50,649) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 49 |
| Released games | 99 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 150% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Perma Death, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Procedural Generation, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 18,570 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Perma Death with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + LGBTQ+Strong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + PiratesFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Interactive FictionFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + 3D PlatformerFair
- + PuzzleFair
Comparable games
Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M 
LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M 
Aliya: Timelink 2024 · $770k 
Uplink 2006 · $637k 
Coal LLC 2025 · $604k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lethal Company | · EA older | $9.99 | 411,550 97% | 12M | $123M (exactly $123,341,535) | Zeekerss |
| | LOCKDOWN Protocol | $9.99 | 16,605 86% | 498k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) | Mirage Creative Lab | |
| | Aliya: Timelink | older | $2.99 | 8,587 97% | 258k | $770k (exactly $770,254) | TDGame Studio |
| | Uplink | older | $11.99 | 1,771 89% | 53k | $637k (exactly $637,029) | Introversion Software |
| | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
 | Rogue Station | older | $9.99 | 225 77% | 6.8k | $67k (exactly $67,432) | Quint Studio |
 | Hired 2 Die | $9.99 | 169 82% | 5.1k | $51k (exactly $50,649) | Electric Monkeys | |
 | Pizza Deathlivery | $5.99 | 161 72% | 4.8k | $29k (exactly $28,932) | Kusa Games | |
 | Time Snatcher Handy | $9.99 | 88 96% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | PulleyBun, ClockworkCats | |
 | Heliotropism | older | $9.99 | 74 91% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $22,178) | Verde |
 | The Candle | $4.99 | 71 91% | 2.1k | $11k (exactly $10,629) | Candle Dev | |
 | OVERDOSE | $3.99 | 81 82% | 2.4k | $9.7k (exactly $9,696) | For Fun Games | |
 | Onychomp : Lush journey | $12.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $7.0k (exactly $7,015) | Howl Studio | |
 | SANTA | $9.99 | 22 59% | 660 | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) | Mightyy | |
 | ReTrime | $15.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $5.8k (exactly $5,756) | DoubleSystem |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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