Games › Time Manipulation › Time Manipulation + Thriller
Should I ship a Thriller Time Manipulation game?
Time Manipulation + Thriller
Only 13 developers shipped a Thriller Time Manipulation 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 Drifter, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 12 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $630, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $2.8M, ×5978 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 12 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $358 (exactly $358) |
|---|---|
| Median | $628 (exactly $628) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) |
| Top 5% | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 12 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Time Manipulation
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Thriller
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Time Manipulation; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, Action-Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 97% positive over 4,973 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 6 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 12 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Time Manipulation with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + DemonsFair
- + CapitalismFair
- + ModernFair
- + PsychologicalFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + RacingFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds
- + RobotsPoor odds
- + Post-apocalypticPoor odds
- + DetectivePoor odds
- + NoirPoor odds
Comparable games
Twelve Minutes 2021 · $5.6M 
Nobody Wants to Die 2024 · $4.4M 
The Drifter 2025 · $2.8M 
Homebody 2023 · $379k 
Eternal Threads 2022 · $326k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Twelve Minutes | older | $24.99 | 7,408 73% | 222k | $5.6M (exactly $5,553,778) | Luis Antonio |
| | Nobody Wants to Die | older | $24.99 | 5,818 83% | 175k | $4.4M (exactly $4,361,755) | Critical Hit Games |
| | The Drifter | $19.99 | 4,735 97% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) | Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd | |
| | Homebody | older | $19.99 | 632 93% | 19k | $379k (exactly $379,010) | Game Grumps |
| | Eternal Threads | older | $19.99 | 543 87% | 16k | $326k (exactly $325,637) | Cosmonaut Studios |
 | Chernobyl Again | older | $19.99 | 39 61% | 1.2k | $23k (exactly $23,388) | Vimagineo Sp. z o.o. |
 | Hank: Drowning On Dry Land | $2.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $13k (exactly $12,558) | My Next Games | |
 | Los Penguinos | older | $4.99 | 57 80% | 1.7k | $8.5k (exactly $8,533) | Hero, ShLeks |
 | Mysteries of Perception | $8.99 | 24 87% | 720 | $6.5k (exactly $6,473) | 50 Rats Games | |
 | Anomaly Protocol | · EA | $4.99 | 33 72% | 990 | $4.9k (exactly $4,940) | Oriland |
 | No.13813 | $5.99 | 17 88% | 510 | $3.1k (exactly $3,055) | Typebits | |
 | The Archive | $7.99 | 6 66% | 180 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | WILD Studios | |
 | Backrooms: The Yellow Dream | $2.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $628 (exactly $628) | Crow Games | |
 | Midnight At Camp Ashwood | $12.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Palfrey Games | |
 | Still Room: I Miss You | $2.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $359 (exactly $359) | Pohybelnia | |
 | petrichor | $1.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $358 (exactly $358) | cumulet collective |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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