Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Psychological Horror

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Time Management game?

Time Management + Psychological Horror

Of 113 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 181 more are announced, ×2.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×905 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 181 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 181 announced, ×2.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Psychological Horror
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 113
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $20k → $2.4k → $1.2k → $4.3k → $779 → $1.2k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Psychological Horror: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 113
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.1k (exactly $1,076)
Top 25% $9.7k (exactly $9,696)
Top 5% $430k (exactly $429,811)
Developers, 2 yr 113
Released games 241
Announced 181
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 45% on the market, supply 40% 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Psychological Horror
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Time Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival Horror, Simulation, Multiple Endings
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, Atmospheric, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 44,150 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 $9.6k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 61 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 181 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.7 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

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M Sultan's Game 2025 · $19M Content Warning 2024 · $17M Pacify 2019 · $4.9M Papa's Freezeria Deluxe 2023 · $2.2M
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
Sultan's Game $24.99 25,061 93% 752k $19M (exactly $18,788,232) Double Cross
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
Pacify older $4.99 32,921 86% 988k $4.9M (exactly $4,928,274) Shawn Hitchcock
Papa's Freezeria Deluxe older $5.99 12,275 99% 368k $2.2M (exactly $2,205,818) Flipline Studios
Kaiju Princess older $10.99 6,069 95% 182k $2.0M (exactly $2,000,949) PantyParrot
Matchmaking Inc. $8.99 5,773 87% 173k $1.6M (exactly $1,556,978) Wave Games
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Office Life $19.99 1,725 88% 52k $1.0M (exactly $1,034,482) LeiYun Games
Backrooms: Lost Tape older $15.99 1,334 81% 40k $640k (exactly $639,920) Cortez Productions
Papa's Pizzeria Deluxe $5.99 3,450 98% 104k $620k (exactly $619,965) Flipline Studios
Do No Harm $15.99 896 74% 27k $430k (exactly $429,811) Darts Games
The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots · EA $6.99 1,697 72% 51k $356k (exactly $355,861) 0x0Real Studio
DISCOPUP $9.99 520 98% 16k $156k (exactly $155,844) Parry Mechanics
Tostchu $7.99 594 84% 18k $142k (exactly $142,382) Ravenscape Collective
Backrooms Cleanup Crew · EA $9.99 453 91% 14k $136k (exactly $135,764) On The Bridge Games

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