Games › Survival › Survival + Time Management
Should I ship a Time Management Survival game?
Survival + Time Management
Of 133 developers who shipped a Time Management Survival 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.. 210 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.0 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×464 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 210 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) |
| Top 25% | $8.1k (exactly $8,091) |
| Top 5% | $292k (exactly $291,633) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 133 |
| Released games | 299 |
| Announced | 210 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 30% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Survival
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Survival, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Resource Management, Strategy, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 49,030 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 56 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 210 games are announced against 83 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Survival with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Social DeductionFair
- + Word GameFair
- + CatsFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + DogsFair
- + Martial ArtsLong shot
- + Boomer ShooterLong shot
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Farthest Frontier 2025 · $26M 
The Alters 2025 · $16M 
Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M 
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster 2024 · $4.5M 
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience 2020 · $1.6M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Farthest Frontier | $34.99 | 24,444 86% | 733k | $26M (exactly $25,658,867) | Crate Entertainment | |
| | The Alters | $34.99 | 15,330 90% | 460k | $16M (exactly $16,091,901) | 11 bit studios | |
| | Infection Free Zone | · EA older | $24.99 | 16,568 80% | 497k | $12M (exactly $12,421,030) | Jutsu Games |
| | Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster | $49.99 | 2,971 80% | 89k | $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609) | CAPCOM Co., Ltd. | |
| | CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience | older | $19.99 | 2,596 91% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) | Delve Interactive |
 | Siege Survival: Gloria Victis | older | $24.99 | 1,367 79% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,024,840) | Black Eye Games |
 | Happy's Humble Burger Farm | older | $19.99 | 1,704 93% | 51k | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,889) | Scythe Dev Team |
 | Survival Log | $10.99 | 2,709 82% | 81k | $893k (exactly $893,157) | Midnight Workshop | |
 | Welcome to Elderfield | $17.99 | 1,334 87% | 40k | $720k (exactly $719,960) | Chris Cote | |
 | Green Hell VR | older | $19.99 | 1,143 57% | 34k | $685k (exactly $685,457) | Incuvo |
 | Zombie Cure Lab | $24.99 | 393 65% | 12k | $295k (exactly $294,632) | Thera Bytes GmbH | |
 | Ark of Charon | $24.99 | 389 75% | 12k | $292k (exactly $291,633) | Angoo Inc., SUNSOFT | |
 | CURE - A Hospital Simulator | · EA | $9.99 | 830 86% | 25k | $249k (exactly $248,751) | Sentinel Games |
 | This Grand Life 2 | $17.99 | 307 88% | 9.2k | $166k (exactly $165,688) | Poking Water Games | |
 | Super Movie Tycoon | $16.99 | 323 73% | 9.7k | $165k (exactly $164,633) | Yuedong Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.