Do I ship it?

GamesTacticalTactical + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Tactical game?

Tactical + Time Management

Of 103 developers who shipped a Time Management Tactical 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.. 129 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $150k, ×251 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 129 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 20% on the market, 129 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 103
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $5.4k → $2.7k → $1.1k → $898 → $390 → $674 (still earning) → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 103
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $898 (exactly $898)
Top 25% $5.7k (exactly $5,662)
Top 5% $158k (exactly $157,549)
Developers, 2 yr 103
Released games 231
Announced 129
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 20% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Time Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Time Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 20,186 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $5.6k, 1 in 20 over $150k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 46 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 62 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Loop Hero older $14.99 33,816 92% 1.0M $15M (exactly $15,207,055) Four Quarters
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
The King is Watching $14.99 9,006 88% 270k $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) Hypnohead
News Tower $24.99 4,316 94% 129k $3.2M (exactly $3,235,705) Sparrow Night
小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop older $10.99 9,176 93% 275k $3.0M (exactly $3,025,327) 落叶岛项目组, 橘子班
Esports Manager 2026 $19.99 3,860 73% 116k $2.3M (exactly $2,314,842) Neurona Games
WE ARE FOOTBALL 2024 older $39.99 751 79% 23k $901k (exactly $900,975) Winning Streak Games GmbH
Subterrain: Mines of Titan older $19.99 657 75% 20k $394k (exactly $394,003) Pixellore Inc
Republic of Pirates older $24.99 420 70% 13k $315k (exactly $314,874) Crazy Goat Games
Carrier Deck older $9.99 1,040 89% 31k $312k (exactly $311,688) Every Single Soldier
Emergency Call - The Firefighting Simulation 3 · EA $24.99 370 71% 11k $277k (exactly $277,389) Crenetic GmbH Studios
GT Manager $24.99 236 71% 7.1k $177k (exactly $176,929) THE TINY DIGITAL FACTORY, IMV STUDIO
CiniCross $11.99 438 85% 13k $158k (exactly $157,549) Hydrobates
小小侠客模拟器 $2.99 1,103 86% 33k $99k (exactly $98,939) 小小游戏
City Defense Z $9.99 300 74% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,910) Good Mood Games
Business Simulator 2026 · EA $11.99 178 74% 5.3k $64k (exactly $64,027) HOGO Games
All Aboard! The Train Defense Express $4.99 379 84% 11k $57k (exactly $56,736) Likadev

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