Games › Time Management › Time Management + Science
Should I ship a Science Time Management game?
Time Management + Science
Only 19 developers shipped a Science Time Management game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, The Alters, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 32 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $16M, ×33878 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,407) |
| Top 5% | $16M (exactly $16,091,901) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.30 |
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 80% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 25%, 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
- Science
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Time Management; all of the top 25% also carry Management, Resource Management, Strategy
- Price point
- $8.30 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $8.30.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 16,929 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Management with a different setting or mood, 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
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Alters | $34.99 | 15,330 90% | 460k | $16M (exactly $16,091,901) | 11 bit studios | |
| | Zombie Cure Lab | $24.99 | 393 65% | 12k | $295k (exactly $294,632) | Thera Bytes GmbH | |
| | Data Center | $8.99 | 916 76% | 27k | $247k (exactly $247,045) | Waseku | |
| | Life Below | $29.99 | 150 80% | 4.5k | $135k (exactly $134,955) | Megapop | |
| | SCP Strategy | older | $6.99 | 556 78% | 17k | $117k (exactly $116,593) | LUXO Interactive |
| | Space Mechanic Simulator | older | $19.99 | 115 60% | 3.5k | $69k (exactly $68,966) | Atomic Jelly |
| | Size Matters | older | $9.99 | 159 91% | 4.8k | $48k (exactly $47,652) | Mazen Games |
| | Tea Garden Simulator | older | $19.99 | 54 74% | 1.6k | $32k (exactly $32,384) | Flying Robot Studios |
| | My Mad Scientist Roommate Turned Me Into Her Personal Robotic Battle Maiden?!? | older | $29.99 | 32 90% | 960 | $29k (exactly $28,790) | Lached Up Games |
| | The Fool's Apprentice | $16.99 | 42 52% | 1.3k | $21k (exactly $21,407) | The Planar Danse | |
| | SysAdmin Odyssey - Back to the office | · EA | $8.30 | 40 75% | 1.2k | $10k (exactly $9,960) | Molodoy-GameDev |
| | Oil Refinery - The Simulation | $14.99 | 18 38% | 540 | $8.1k (exactly $8,095) | Polygon Art | |
| | Forgotten 23 | $12.99 | 14 92% | 420 | $5.5k (exactly $5,456) | KovalGames | |
| | F.A.R.M.S.: Chill Factory | $7.99 | 22 72% | 660 | $5.3k (exactly $5,273) | Plema Crafts | |
| | Bomb Squad | $14.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $1.8k (exactly $1,799) | International Headquarters |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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