Do I ship it?

Games › Time Attack › Time Attack + Puzzle

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Puzzle Time Attack game?

Time Attack + Puzzle

Of 29 developers who shipped a Puzzle Time Attack 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.. 30 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 18 developers shipped in the last year and 30 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 30 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Attack + Puzzle
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 29
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $628 → $3.6k → $2.0k → $1.1k → $898 → $537 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Attack + Puzzle: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 29
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,698)
Top 5% $16k (exactly $16,059)
Developers, 2 yr 29
Released games 206
Announced 30
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $1.99

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 10% on the market, supply 40% 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Attack
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Puzzle
effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Time Attack, Puzzle; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Exploration, Collectathon, Hidden Object
Price point
$1.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Cozy, Cute, Minimalist
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $1.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 813 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $16k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + CatsFair5 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + SportsFair12 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  3. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $1.1k · 16 announced
  4. + FuturisticFair16 devs · median $898 · 17 announced
  5. + RacingFair44 devs · median $748 · 42 announced
  6. + Level EditorFair12 devs · median $748 · 14 announced
  7. + Point & ClickFair7 devs · median $718 · 12 announced
  8. + Score AttackFair50 devs · median $657 · 54 announced
  9. + SpaceFair11 devs · median $657 · 9 announced
  10. + ActionFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + AdventureFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  12. + RunnerFair15 devs · median $599 · 10 announced

All 35 pairs on the Time Attack page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Mirror's Edge™ 2009 · $19M Marble It Up! Ultra 2018 · $954k EDGE 2011 · $383k Best Plumber 2019 · $101k 10 Second Ninja X 2016 · $92k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Mirror's Edge™ older $19.99 31,195 87% 936k $19M (exactly $18,707,642) DICE
Marble It Up! Ultra older $29.99 1,060 93% 32k $954k (exactly $953,682) Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes an… (Blueteak, The Engine Company, Shapes and Lines, Arcturus Interactive, The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild)
EDGE older $6.99 1,826 92% 55k $383k (exactly $382,912) Two Tribes
Best Plumber older $29.99 112 74% 3.4k $101k (exactly $100,766) Hograung Studio
10 Second Ninja X older $9.99 306 84% 9.2k $92k (exactly $91,708) Four Circle Interactive
SNOW BROS. 2 SPECIAL $34.99 80 70% 2.4k $84k (exactly $83,976) CRT GAMES
Marble Skies older $9.99 253 82% 7.6k $76k (exactly $75,824) [untitledDev]
Nimbus older $9.99 182 94% 5.5k $55k (exactly $54,545) Noumenon Games
Flockers™ older $9.99 158 76% 4.7k $47k (exactly $47,353) Team17 Digital Ltd
Offspring Fling! older $7.99 139 89% 4.2k $33k (exactly $33,318) Kyle Pulver
Ells Tales: Chairbound $1.99 269 81% 8.1k $16k (exactly $16,059) Ells&Pills
100 Cats London $1.99 111 96% 3.3k $6.6k (exactly $6,627) 100 Cats
Emergency Exit $9.99 12 83% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Cheeky Cat Games
Tilt It! Golf $4.99 24 87% 720 $3.6k (exactly $3,593) Kautki Cave
100 Cats Singapore $0.99 113 93% 3.4k $3.4k (exactly $3,356) 100 Cats
100 Cats Belgrade $1.99 54 90% 1.6k $3.2k (exactly $3,224) 100 Cats
The Confinement $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Mr. Dev Studio
Find Cats in the Casino $0.99 94 94% 2.8k $2.8k (exactly $2,792) MeowSignal
100 Cats Italy $1.99 46 95% 1.4k $2.7k (exactly $2,746) 100 Cats

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