Games › Time Management › Time Management + Puzzle
Should I ship a Puzzle Time Management game?
Time Management + Puzzle
Of 241 developers who shipped a Puzzle 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.. 294 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×268 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 294 games are announced against 143 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $2.9k (exactly $2,875) |
| Top 5% | $128k (exactly $127,520) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 241 |
| Released games | 716 |
| Announced | 294 |
| 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 up 20% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Puzzle
- effort 2 / 10 · high · discrete rules, levels are data
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Time Management, Puzzle; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 25,373 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 135 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 294 games are announced against 143 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + AgricultureFair
- + Time TravelFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + LootFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
LOCKDOWN Protocol 2025 · $5.0M 
BOOK OF HOURS 2023 · $3.1M 
Rail Route 2024 · $1.8M 
Fly Corp 2023 · $1.4M 
Little Goody Two Shoes 2023 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | LOCKDOWN Protocol | $9.99 | 16,605 86% | 498k | $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) | Mirage Creative Lab | |
| | BOOK OF HOURS | older | $24.99 | 4,129 89% | 124k | $3.1M (exactly $3,095,511) | Weather Factory |
| | Rail Route | older | $24.99 | 2,400 88% | 72k | $1.8M (exactly $1,799,280) | Bitrich.info |
| | Fly Corp | older | $14.99 | 3,112 85% | 93k | $1.4M (exactly $1,399,466) | KishMish Games |
| | Little Goody Two Shoes | older | $19.99 | 2,209 95% | 66k | $1.3M (exactly $1,324,737) | AstralShift |
 | A Perfect Day | older | $19.99 | 1,733 84% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,039,280) | Perfect Day Studio |
 | I am an Air Traffic Controller 4 | older | $59.99 | 566 79% | 17k | $1.0M (exactly $1,018,630) | TechnoBrain |
 | Trash Goblin | $19.99 | 1,574 87% | 47k | $944k (exactly $943,928) | Spilt Milk Studios Ltd | |
 | Train Valley | older | $9.99 | 2,621 89% | 79k | $786k (exactly $785,514) | Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timof… (Alexey Davydov, Sergey Dvoynikov, Timofey Shargorodskiy, Flazm) |
 | Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator | older | $24.99 | 1,033 77% | 31k | $774k (exactly $774,440) | Broken Arms Games |
 | Sex, Secrets & Used Tech | $16.99 | 1,291 85% | 39k | $658k (exactly $658,023) | WorkNite Games, 78Games | |
 | BOMBANANA! | $7.99 | 2,360 96% | 71k | $566k (exactly $565,692) | Lefto Studio | |
 | Do No Harm | $15.99 | 896 74% | 27k | $430k (exactly $429,811) | Darts Games | |
 | Asbury Pines | · EA | $12.99 | 558 90% | 17k | $217k (exactly $217,453) | Chaystar Unlimited LLC |
 | Craftlings | $19.99 | 311 86% | 9.3k | $187k (exactly $186,507) | ARIANO Games GmbH | |
 | Mindcop | $14.99 | 413 94% | 12k | $186k (exactly $185,726) | Andre Gareis | |
 | Eventide Matter | $5.99 | 927 95% | 28k | $167k (exactly $166,582) | Ottropi Games | |
 | CiniCross | $11.99 | 438 85% | 13k | $158k (exactly $157,549) | Hydrobates |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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