Do I ship it?

Games › Procedural Generation › Procedural Generation + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Procedural Generation Time Management game?

Procedural Generation + Time Management

Of 85 developers who shipped a Procedural Generation 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.. 167 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×891 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 167 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 167 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Procedural Generation + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 85
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.3k → $13k → $2.2k → $6.6k → $1.5k → $4.8k → $674 (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Procedural Generation + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 85
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,157)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $11,058)
Top 5% $423k (exactly $423,388)
Developers, 2 yr 85
Released games 177
Announced 167
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.49

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 20% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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.

Procedural Generation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 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
Procedural Generation, Time Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Simulation, Strategy
Price point
$7.49 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $7.49.

The top 10 games average 94% positive over 329,613 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 167 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Procedural Generation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SnowFair11 devs · median $3.0k · 16 announced
  2. + Traditional RoguelikeFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + DetectiveFair29 devs · median $1.5k · 30 announced
  4. + Word GameFair22 devs · median $1.3k · 23 announced
  5. + TypingFair26 devs · median $1.1k · 11 announced
  6. + IdlerFair98 devs · median $807 · 107 announced
  7. + LogicFair137 devs · median $478 · 149 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair57 devs · median $449 · 62 announced
  9. + Precision PlatformerFair49 devs · median $449 · 42 announced
  10. + Hidden ObjectFair58 devs · median $418 · 56 announced
  11. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds31 devs · median $77k · 95 announced
  12. + TrainsPoor odds22 devs · median $30k · 35 announced

All 222 pairs on the Procedural Generation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M PEAK 2025 · $72M Content Warning 2024 · $17M Software Inc. 2015 · EA · $5.2M Pacify 2019 · $4.9M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Software Inc. · EA older $22.99 7,576 94% 227k $5.2M (exactly $5,225,167) Coredumping
Pacify older $4.99 32,921 86% 988k $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) Shawn Hitchcock
Gamble With Your Friends $7.99 18,883 89% 566k $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) TEAM GWYF
112 Operator older $24.99 5,688 88% 171k $4.3M (exactly $4,264,294) Jutsu Games
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience older $19.99 2,596 91% 78k $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) Delve Interactive
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
Astronomics · EA $19.99 706 89% 21k $423k (exactly $423,388) Numizmatic
Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival $9.99 826 77% 25k $248k (exactly $247,552) RetroStyle Games
Sinner Maker · EA $9.66 545 91% 16k $158k (exactly $157,941) Pantokrator
CiniCross $11.99 438 85% 13k $158k (exactly $157,549) Hydrobates
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
the cabin game · EA $11.99 362 86% 11k $130k (exactly $130,211) Twisted Corridor👻

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