Do I ship it?

Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Roguelike?

Time Manipulation + Roguelike

Of 39 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Roguelike 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.. 51 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×657 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 51 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 50% on the market, 51 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 39
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $478 → $839 → $356 → $3.3k → $6.7k → $5.4k → $1.4k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 39
Bottom 30% $419 (exactly $419)
Median $2.7k (exactly $2,726)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,904)
Top 5% $312k (exactly $311,860)
Developers, 2 yr 39
Released games 68
Announced 51
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 50% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Roguelike
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
Time Manipulation, Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $11.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $11.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 3,175 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $2.7k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $310k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 8 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Million Depth 2025 · $343k Ascend to ZERO 2026 · $312k Cube Chaos 2025 · $223k Maze Mice 2025 · $94k Titans of the Past 2025 · $81k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Million Depth $16.99 673 93% 20k $343k (exactly $343,028) Cyber Space Biotope
Ascend to ZERO $11.99 867 82% 26k $312k (exactly $311,860) Flyway Games, Inc.
Cube Chaos $11.99 621 95% 19k $223k (exactly $223,374) Wunarg
Maze Mice $9.99 315 88% 9.5k $94k (exactly $94,406) TrampolineTales
Titans of the Past $24.99 108 83% 3.2k $81k (exactly $80,968) Devil's Dozen Games
Super Drift Blade $6.99 351 94% 11k $74k (exactly $73,605) Liujiajun
PositronX older $19.99 56 71% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Scorpius Games
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Natti · EA older $7.99 109 58% 3.3k $26k (exactly $26,127) 4DAYS LAB Co., Ltd.
Moon Watch · EA $9.99 56 57% 1.7k $17k (exactly $16,783) Jaspel
Temporal Titans · EA $9.99 44 95% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Lost Tower Games
Get Up In The Night $6.99 52 98% 1.6k $11k (exactly $10,904) GUITN Studio

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