Games › Physics › Physics + Time Attack
Should I ship a Physics Time Attack game?
Physics + Time Attack
Of 38 developers who shipped a Physics Time Attack 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $670, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $90; 1 in 20 cleared $770k, ×1231 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 56 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $90 (exactly $90) |
|---|---|
| Median | $674 (exactly $674) |
| Top 25% | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) |
| Top 5% | $773k (exactly $773,165) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 38 |
| Released games | 108 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Low |
| 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 180% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is low: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Physics
- effort 5 / 10 · low · emergent simulation bugs need hands-on tuning
- Time Attack
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Physics, Time Attack; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Arcade, Racing, Action
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Difficult, 3D, Stylized
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 11,569 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $90. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Physics with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderStrong odds
- + Dating SimFair
- + PinballFair
- + World War IIFair
- + Mini GolfFair
- + GolfFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + CatsFair
- + Mystery DungeonFair
- + BilliardsFair
Comparable games
Assetto Corsa Rally 2025 · EA · $7.9M 
Marble It Up! Ultra 2018 · $954k 
Slackers - Carts of Glory 2024 · $773k 
Stilt Fella 2020 · $309k 
DEADLINE DELIVERY 2026 · $143k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Assetto Corsa Rally | · EA | $29.99 | 8,757 87% | 263k | $7.9M (exactly $7,878,673) | Supernova Games Studios |
| | Marble It Up! Ultra | older | $29.99 | 1,060 93% | 32k | $954k (exactly $953,682) | Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes an… (Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes and Lines, Arcturus Interactive, The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild) |
| | Slackers - Carts of Glory | $12.99 | 1,984 91% | 60k | $773k (exactly $773,165) | Falling Saints | |
| | Stilt Fella | older | $12.99 | 794 92% | 24k | $309k (exactly $309,422) | September Games |
| | DEADLINE DELIVERY | $14.99 | 319 85% | 9.6k | $143k (exactly $143,454) | GOOD1 Studios | |
 | Best Plumber | older | $29.99 | 112 74% | 3.4k | $101k (exactly $100,766) | Hograung Studio |
 | Star Drift Evolution | older | $14.99 | 213 94% | 6.4k | $96k (exactly $95,786) | Catze |
 | Marble Skies | older | $9.99 | 253 82% | 7.6k | $76k (exactly $75,824) | [untitledDev] |
 | Nimbus | older | $9.99 | 182 94% | 5.5k | $55k (exactly $54,545) | Noumenon Games |
 | Whitewater VR: Extreme Kayaking Adventure | older | $19.99 | 82 81% | 2.5k | $49k (exactly $49,175) | Adam Horvath |
 | Ballest of Them All | · EA | $5.99 | 110 97% | 3.3k | $20k (exactly $19,767) | Low5ive, Action Jackson |
 | Ells Tales: Chairbound | $1.99 | 269 81% | 8.1k | $16k (exactly $16,059) | Ells&Pills | |
 | Caromble! | $12.99 | 34 73% | 1.0k | $13k (exactly $13,250) | Crimson Owl Studios | |
 | Raccoon Roller | $14.99 | 16 100% | 480 | $7.2k (exactly $7,195) | Ribcat Games | |
 | Barro 2026 | $4.99 | 47 70% | 1.4k | $7.0k (exactly $7,036) | Grishko Games | |
 | Marble Champions | $14.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $4.0k (exactly $4,047) | Luc Versleijen, Neonchimp Games | |
 | Tilt It! Golf | $4.99 | 24 87% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Kautki Cave |
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.