Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Perma Death
Should I ship a Time Manipulation Perma Death game?
Time Manipulation + Perma Death
Only 13 developers shipped a Time Manipulation Perma Death game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Million Depth, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 17 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 $2.4k, ×5.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $630; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×722 the market median. Revenue is up 520% on the market; 17 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $628 (exactly $628) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $343k (exactly $343,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 44 |
| Announced | 17 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 520% on the market, supply 60% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Time Manipulation, Perma Death; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action Roguelike, Roguelike, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,730 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $630. All of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 17 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Manipulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DemonsFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + ModernFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DetectivePoor odds
- + NoirPoor odds
Comparable games
Million Depth 2025 · $343k 
Ascend to ZERO 2026 · $312k 
PositronX 2020 · $34k 
Time Snatcher Handy 2025 · $26k 
THE BYTE 2022 · $11k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Million Depth | $16.99 | 673 93% | 20k | $343k (exactly $343,028) | Cyber Space Biotope | |
| | Ascend to ZERO | $11.99 | 867 82% | 26k | $312k (exactly $311,860) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
| | PositronX | older | $19.99 | 56 71% | 1.7k | $34k (exactly $33,583) | Scorpius Games |
| | Time Snatcher Handy | $9.99 | 88 96% | 2.6k | $26k (exactly $26,374) | PulleyBun, ClockworkCats | |
| | THE BYTE | older | $24.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $11k (exactly $11,246) | AVAKE |
 | Los Penguinos | older | $4.99 | 57 80% | 1.7k | $8.5k (exactly $8,533) | Hero, ShLeks |
 | NO RELOADING: Survival Trials | · EA older | $14.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) | ZoopTEK |
 | Let It Go - How to realize your dreams | older | $9.99 | 20 100% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Philozofia Studio |
 | Duck Paradox | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Magic Games | |
 | Ricave | $14.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Rogueatic Games | |
 | KeyBreach | $4.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | sawworm Games | |
 | Wild Script: Nature | · EA | $4.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Surdarium |
 | Captain Puff MacFly | $2.99 | 23 95% | 690 | $2.1k (exactly $2,063) | MVCAO Studios | |
 | Stop the Blight | $12.99 | 4 50% | 120 | $1.6k (exactly $1,559) | Bouncy Washer | |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.