Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Post-apocalyptic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Post-apocalyptic Time Management game?

Time Management + Post-apocalyptic

Of 34 developers who shipped a Post-apocalyptic 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.. 78 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $780; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×477 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 78 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 78 announced, ×3.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Post-apocalyptic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 34
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $60 → $20k → $3.4k → $16k → $3.6k → $1.2k (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Post-apocalyptic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 34
Bottom 30% $779 (exactly $779)
Median $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Top 25% $36k (exactly $35,600)
Top 5% $300k (exactly $299,600)
Developers, 2 yr 34
Released games 77
Announced 78
Effort 5 / 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 down 85% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Post-apocalyptic
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Time Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 6,335 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $780, median $3.1k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $290k.

3 in 10 developers made under $780. 5 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 78 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dungeon CrawlerFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  4. + AgricultureFair57 devs · median $2.3k · 73 announced
  5. + Time TravelFair17 devs · median $2.2k · 19 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair27 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  7. + LootFair34 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  8. + Turn-Based TacticsFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  9. + AutomationFair162 devs · median $1.2k · 191 announced
  10. + Bullet HellFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  11. + ThrillerFair42 devs · median $1.1k · 65 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair53 devs · median $1.0k · 65 announced

All 179 pairs on the Time Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Content Warning 2024 · $17M Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M Cliff Empire 2019 · $2.3M Survival Log 2026 · $893k MECHANICA: A Ballad of the Rabbit and Mercury 2021 · $498k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
Cliff Empire older $17.99 4,194 87% 126k $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) Lion's Shade
Survival Log $10.99 2,709 82% 81k $893k (exactly $893,157) Midnight Workshop
MECHANICA: A Ballad of the Rabbit and Mercury older $19.99 830 95% 25k $498k (exactly $497,751) Loser/s
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Cook Serve Forever $29.99 333 69% 10k $300k (exactly $299,600) Vertigo Gaming Inc.
Zombie Cure Lab $24.99 393 65% 12k $295k (exactly $294,632) Thera Bytes GmbH
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival $9.99 826 77% 25k $248k (exactly $247,552) RetroStyle Games
Homeseek older $24.99 190 62% 5.7k $142k (exactly $142,443) Traptics
Wasteland Bites $9.99 440 93% 13k $132k (exactly $131,868) CosmicDev
STARIO: Haven Tower · EA $13.99 280 93% 8.4k $118k (exactly $117,516) Stargate Games
Widget Inc. $4.99 761 84% 23k $114k (exactly $113,922) Leaping Turtle
City Defense Z $9.99 300 74% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,910) Good Mood Games
Deep Among the Swarm $8.99 132 85% 4.0k $36k (exactly $35,600) Pebble Mountain Games
Pizza Deathlivery $5.99 161 72% 4.8k $29k (exactly $28,932) Kusa Games

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