Games › Platformer › Platformer + Time Travel
Should I ship a Time-Travel Platformer?
Platformer + Time Travel
Of 24 developers who shipped a Time-Travel Platformer 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, ×8.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $89; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×322 the market median. Revenue is up 620% on the market; 56 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $89 (exactly $89) |
|---|---|
| Median | $899 (exactly $899) |
| Top 25% | $23k (exactly $22,777) |
| Top 5% | $153k (exactly $152,920) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 24 |
| Released games | 95 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 620% on the market, supply 60% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Platformer
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Time Travel
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Platformer; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action-Adventure, Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute, Side Scroller
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 2,165 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $89. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×8.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Platformer with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dating SimStrong odds
- + PinballStrong odds
- + Combat RacingFair
- + FMVFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Grid-Based MovementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Co-op CampaignPoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + SkateboardingPoor odds
Comparable games
Sonic Generations Collection 2011 · $32M 
The Messenger 2018 · $6.4M 
Braid 2009 · $3.1M 
Timespinner 2018 · $1.7M 
Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time 2008 · $1.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sonic Generations Collection | older | $51.79 | 20,304 93% | 609k | $32M (exactly $31,546,325) | Devil's Details |
| | The Messenger | older | $19.99 | 10,711 92% | 321k | $6.4M (exactly $6,423,387) | Sabotage |
| | Braid | older | $14.99 | 6,941 93% | 208k | $3.1M (exactly $3,121,368) | Number None |
| | Timespinner | older | $19.99 | 2,823 86% | 85k | $1.7M (exactly $1,692,953) | Lunar Ray Games |
| | Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time | older | $9.99 | 5,045 85% | 151k | $1.5M (exactly $1,511,986) | Kudosoft |
 | Prince of Persia: Warrior Within™ | older | $9.99 | 3,933 82% | 118k | $1.2M (exactly $1,178,720) | Ubisoft |
 | Evoland 2 | older | $19.99 | 1,843 88% | 55k | $1.1M (exactly $1,105,247) | Shiro Games |
 | Braid, Anniversary Edition | older | $19.99 | 1,761 92% | 53k | $1.1M (exactly $1,056,072) | Thekla, Inc. |
 | Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones™ | older | $9.99 | 2,683 80% | 80k | $804k (exactly $804,095) | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | No Time To Explain Remastered | older | $14.99 | 1,318 83% | 40k | $593k (exactly $592,705) | tinyBuild |
 | Chrono Gear: Warden of Time | $17.99 | 950 98% | 29k | $513k (exactly $512,715) | Team Chrono Gear, GalaxyTrail | |
 | DragonLoop | $8.99 | 567 91% | 17k | $153k (exactly $152,920) | 沙因, 小阮 | |
 | Gawr Gura: Quest for Bread | $7.99 | 298 97% | 8.9k | $71k (exactly $71,431) | Kenny Park | |
 | PROJECT TACHYON | $17.99 | 117 83% | 3.5k | $63k (exactly $63,145) | STUDIO N9 | |
 | LIFTED | $19.99 | 70 92% | 2.1k | $42k (exactly $41,979) | Adventure Works L.L.C. | |
 | Origament: A Paper Adventure | $9.99 | 76 90% | 2.3k | $23k (exactly $22,777) | Space Sauce Studio | |
 | Bleeding Deities | $9.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $6.0k (exactly $5,994) | Duty Over | |
 | Kokoro Clover SUN - Prehistoric Invaders! | $3.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $3.4k (exactly $3,352) | ひこてる | |
 | Beta MAX | $9.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.0k (exactly $2,997) | Nexcide | |
 | Chrono | $2.99 | 29 100% | 870 | $2.6k (exactly $2,601) | David Simoes |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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