Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Time Manipulation
Should I ship a Time Manipulation Sandbox?
Sandbox + Time Manipulation
Of 21 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Sandbox 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.. 42 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $810, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $570; 1 in 20 cleared $34k, ×56 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 42 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $564 (exactly $564) |
|---|---|
| Median | $809 (exactly $809) |
| Top 25% | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) |
| Top 5% | $35k (exactly $34,862) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 56 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 15% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Time Manipulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Character Customization, Exploration, Open World
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 92% positive over 2,237 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $570. 9 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
Hotel Architect 2026 · $1.7M 
No Time 2019 · EA · $825k 
SeaOrama: World of Shipping 2023 · $229k 
Train World 2023 · $89k 
Hotel Giant 2 2010 · $64k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Hotel Architect | $29.99 | 1,934 94% | 58k | $1.7M (exactly $1,740,020) | Pathos Interactive | |
| | No Time | · EA older | $12.99 | 2,117 97% | 64k | $825k (exactly $824,995) | Lost in Days Studio |
| | SeaOrama: World of Shipping | older | $19.99 | 382 58% | 11k | $229k (exactly $229,085) | Hidden Tower, SeaOrama |
| | Train World | older | $34.99 | 85 75% | 2.6k | $89k (exactly $89,224) | Turn Point Games |
| | Hotel Giant 2 | older | $7.99 | 268 47% | 8.0k | $64k (exactly $64,240) | Enlight Software Limited, PerspectX |
 | Destructive Physics - Destruction Simulator | older | $19.99 | 87 78% | 2.6k | $52k (exactly $52,174) | KreizLand Games |
 | Time To Stop Time | older | $9.99 | 161 71% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $48,252) | Sicarius |
 | Cube Land Arena | older | $4.99 | 279 66% | 8.4k | $42k (exactly $41,766) | Jaison Robson Gusava, SC Jogos |
 | Unaware in The City | $5.99 | 194 81% | 5.8k | $35k (exactly $34,862) | Mr. Unaware Studios | |
 | Mobiles Tycoon | older | $5.99 | 177 83% | 5.3k | $32k (exactly $31,807) | Insignis Games |
 | Typhon: Bot vs Bot | · EA | $19.99 | 12 75% | 360 | $7.2k (exactly $7,196) | Brightshade Games |
 | Duck Paradox | $9.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) | Magic Games | |
 | Paradox Guardians | · EA | $12.99 | 13 38% | 390 | $5.1k (exactly $5,066) | Paraguard |
 | Macht: Cosmic Engine | · EA | $24.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $3.7k (exactly $3,748) | Kestro Games |
 | Arcade Empire Tycoon | $4.99 | 25 68% | 750 | $3.7k (exactly $3,742) | Mind Inside Games | |
 | Wild Script: Nature | · EA | $4.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $2.4k (exactly $2,395) | Surdarium |
 | Chat Ragdoll Racing | · EA | $4.99 | 13 100% | 390 | $1.9k (exactly $1,946) | Scuffed Gamedev, Samuli Salonen, Marcus… (Scuffed Gamedev, Samuli Salonen, Marcus Rose) |
 | Destructive Contraptions | $7.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Gamergetik |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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