Do I ship it?

Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Point & Click

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Point & Click game?

Time Manipulation + Point & Click

Of 25 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Point & Click 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.. 34 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×3897 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 34 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 34 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Point & Click
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $899 → $839 → $7.6k → $8.9k → $1.4k (still earning) → $1.1k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Point & Click: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,079)
Top 25% $8.9k (exactly $8,902)
Top 5% $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 81
Announced 34
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 down 75% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Point & Click
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation, Point & Click; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Simulation, Investigation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 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 $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 9,607 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.1k, 1 in 4 over $8.9k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 6 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 34 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Manipulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Twelve Minutes 2021 · $5.6M The Drifter 2025 · $2.8M Sovereign Tower 2026 · $1.9M The Silent Age 2015 · $1.8M The Sexy Brutale 2017 · $1.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Twelve Minutes older $24.99 7,408 73% 222k $5.6M (exactly $5,553,778) Luis Antonio
The Drifter $19.99 4,735 97% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd
Sovereign Tower $19.99 3,087 93% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) WILD WITS GAMES
The Silent Age older $9.99 5,966 93% 179k $1.8M (exactly $1,788,010) House On Fire
The Sexy Brutale older $19.99 2,895 91% 87k $1.7M (exactly $1,736,131) Cavalier Game Studios, Tequila Works
Timelie older $17.99 1,783 95% 53k $962k (exactly $962,285) Urnique Studio
A Guidebook of Babel older $14.99 877 92% 26k $394k (exactly $394,387) StarryStarry
Lucifer Within Us older $19.99 635 73% 19k $381k (exactly $380,809) Kitfox Games
Homebody older $19.99 632 93% 19k $379k (exactly $379,010) Game Grumps
The Posthumous Investigation $19.99 554 94% 17k $332k (exactly $332,234) Mother Gaia Studio
Dinocop $14.99 737 96% 22k $331k (exactly $331,429) Pieces Games
Paragnosia $3.99 228 92% 6.8k $27k (exactly $27,292) Sine Coda
Paragnosia: Museum $5.99 139 87% 4.2k $25k (exactly $24,978) Sine Coda
Doujin Fever!! Night Assault! $6.99 48 85% 1.4k $10k (exactly $10,066) Genesis Arthangel
Escape Everlit $10.99 27 100% 810 $8.9k (exactly $8,902) lantao studio
Who Summoned It? $9.99 29 96% 870 $8.7k (exactly $8,691) Crooked Foot
Clockwork Rabbit $10.99 23 100% 690 $7.6k (exactly $7,583) OnionMilk

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