Do I ship it?

GamesSimulationSimulation + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel Simulation game?

Simulation + Time Travel

Of 42 developers who shipped a Time-Travel Simulation 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.. 44 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $540. Revenue is flat on the market; 44 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 44 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Simulation + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 42
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $13k → $359 → $19k → $2.4k → $12k → $959 (still earning) → $539 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Simulation + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 42
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,435)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $12,230)
Top 5% $120k (exactly $119,666)
Developers, 2 yr 42
Released games 101
Announced 44
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.00

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 flat on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 20%, 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.

Simulation
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Time Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Simulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Multiple Endings, RPG
Price point
$9.00 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.00.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 4,647 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $12k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 9 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Simulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVStrong odds150 devs · median $55k · 81 announced
  2. + Escape RoomStrong odds36 devs · median $3.6k · 26 announced
  3. + World War IFair23 devs · median $32k · 32 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair285 devs · median $12k · 362 announced
  5. + LGBTQ+Fair272 devs · median $9.7k · 303 announced
  6. + PinballFair27 devs · median $8.2k · 28 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair672 devs · median $5.1k · 754 announced
  8. + BirdsFair19 devs · median $3.8k · 16 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair387 devs · median $3.0k · 490 announced
  10. + MusicFair81 devs · median $3.0k · 92 announced
  11. + Auto BattlerFair219 devs · median $2.5k · 293 announced
  12. + ProgrammingFair132 devs · median $2.2k · 174 announced

All 287 pairs on the Simulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
GNOSIA older $24.99 4,855 93% 146k $3.6M (exactly $3,639,794) Petit Depotto
Multiverse Loot Hunter $11.99 2,585 80% 78k $930k (exactly $929,824) 游戏养家工作室
No Time · EA older $12.99 2,117 97% 64k $825k (exactly $824,995) Lost in Days Studio
Accident older $14.99 1,462 76% 44k $657k (exactly $657,461) Duality Games, Spirit Games Studio
River Town Factory older $14.99 1,277 88% 38k $574k (exactly $574,267) iFAction Studio
Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival older $19.99 807 69% 24k $484k (exactly $483,958) Tbjbu2
Million Depth $16.99 673 93% 20k $343k (exactly $343,028) Cyber Space Biotope
Time Warpers older $19.99 493 82% 15k $296k (exactly $295,652) Proton Studio Inc
My Fav Chill Streamer Dies a Million Times|ゆるゆる生配信する推しは100万回死ぬ $34.99 114 92% 3.4k $120k (exactly $119,666) VELUX STUDIO
Carpet Cleaning Simulator $6.99 508 87% 15k $107k (exactly $106,528) daimaGAME
Time Space Rebuild $4.99 377 76% 11k $56k (exactly $56,437) INNOVATION DREAM
Sea Chronicles $9.99 154 90% 4.6k $46k (exactly $46,154) Madi Abdykarimov
Love starts again $15.99 63 71% 1.9k $30k (exactly $30,221) WWWave Corporation
回到2001买房子 $19.99 48 72% 1.4k $29k (exactly $28,786) 新起点制作组
How to create a witch $12.99 62 66% 1.9k $24k (exactly $24,161) Kujirabo。
刻印战记2:七圣英雄 $9.99 63 73% 1.9k $19k (exactly $18,881) Lycian Studio

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