Do I ship it?

GamesTime ManipulationTime Manipulation + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation Time Management game?

Time Manipulation + Time Management

Of 30 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation Time Management 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.. 60 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.0k, ×4.2 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×187 the market median. Revenue is up 400% on the market; 60 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 400% on the market, 60 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 30
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.4k → $4.4k → $2.5k → $839 → $178 → $5.5k → $897 (still earning) → $2.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 30
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $2.0k (exactly $1,978)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 5% $89k (exactly $88,591)
Developers, 2 yr 30
Released games 137
Announced 60
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 up 400% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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.

Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation, Time Management; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Puzzle
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 686 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $2.0k, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $88k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 60 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + DemonsFair14 devs · median $2.7k · 9 announced
  2. + CapitalismFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 14 announced
  3. + ModernFair12 devs · median $987 · 9 announced
  4. + PsychologicalFair18 devs · median $897 · 17 announced
  5. + CollectathonFair10 devs · median $657 · 15 announced
  6. + RacingFair10 devs · median $599 · 12 announced
  7. + Precision PlatformerFair22 devs · median $598 · 20 announced
  8. + Choose Your Own AdventurePoor odds9 devs · median $13k · 24 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds12 devs · median $11k · 16 announced
  10. + Post-apocalypticPoor odds7 devs · median $6.7k · 22 announced
  11. + DetectivePoor odds16 devs · median $6.5k · 32 announced
  12. + NoirPoor odds9 devs · median $6.5k · 15 announced

All 103 pairs on the Time Manipulation page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
SeaOrama: World of Shipping older $19.99 382 58% 11k $229k (exactly $229,085) Hidden Tower, SeaOrama
Loop8: Summer of Gods older $39.99 107 45% 3.2k $128k (exactly $128,368) Marvelous Inc.
NODE $24.99 146 91% 4.4k $109k (exactly $109,456) Lapsus Games
Elsinore older $9.99 345 95% 10k $103k (exactly $103,396) Golden Glitch
Timemelters older $19.99 152 92% 4.6k $91k (exactly $91,154) Autoexec Games
Check Inn $14.99 197 84% 5.9k $89k (exactly $88,591) KishMish Games
UnLoop · EA $17.99 163 98% 4.9k $88k (exactly $87,971) Superposition NULL
Writer's Rush older $5.99 402 74% 12k $72k (exactly $72,239) Frogstorm
Orten Was The Case older $14.99 125 94% 3.8k $56k (exactly $56,212) Woodhill Interactive
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
Pro Football · EA $11.99 22 100% 660 $7.9k (exactly $7,913) Dayra Studio
Forgotten 23 $12.99 14 92% 420 $5.5k (exactly $5,456) KovalGames
Panta Rhei - Guardian of Time $9.99 18 94% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic… (Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic Scoring)
Nazar $9.99 12 75% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) Eray Dinc Studio, Recontact Games
KeyBreach $4.99 21 95% 630 $3.1k (exactly $3,144) sawworm Games
Truck Manager Australia $19.99 5 0% 150 $3.0k (exactly $2,998) mw.winkler.forge.interactive

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