Games › Time Management › Time Management + Tower Defense
Should I ship a Tower Defense Time Management game?
Time Management + Tower Defense
Of 44 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 79 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $290k, ×614 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 79 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $6.3k (exactly $6,287) |
| Top 5% | $292k (exactly $291,633) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 44 |
| Released games | 117 |
| Announced | 79 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 65% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 19%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Time Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Tower Defense
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Time Management, Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Resource Management, Survival
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 10,894 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 79 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Time Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Dungeon CrawlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + AgricultureFair
- + Time TravelFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + LootFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
Comparable games
The King is Watching 2025 · $4.0M 
Cliff Empire 2019 · $2.3M 
Zombie Cure Lab 2025 · $295k 
Ark of Charon 2024 · $292k 
12 Labours of Hercules 2015 · $207k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The King is Watching | $14.99 | 9,006 88% | 270k | $4.0M (exactly $4,049,998) | Hypnohead | |
| | Cliff Empire | older | $17.99 | 4,194 87% | 126k | $2.3M (exactly $2,263,502) | Lion's Shade |
| | 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 | |
| | 12 Labours of Hercules | older | $2.99 | 2,307 93% | 69k | $207k (exactly $206,938) | Jetdogs Studios, Zoom Out Games |
 | Farm for your Life | older | $9.99 | 499 81% | 15k | $150k (exactly $149,550) | Hammer Labs |
 | Iron Sea Defenders | older | $14.99 | 305 81% | 9.2k | $137k (exactly $137,158) | Creobit |
 | Gnomes Garden | older | $14.99 | 262 87% | 7.9k | $118k (exactly $117,821) | Workroom7, Creobit |
 | Royal Defense | older | $14.99 | 246 70% | 7.4k | $111k (exactly $110,626) | Good Games, Creobit |
 | Timemelters | older | $19.99 | 152 92% | 4.6k | $91k (exactly $91,154) | Autoexec Games |
 | City Defense Z | $9.99 | 300 74% | 9.0k | $90k (exactly $89,910) | Good Mood Games | |
 | All Aboard! The Train Defense Express | $4.99 | 379 84% | 11k | $57k (exactly $56,736) | Likadev | |
 | PROFITS 2167: Planetary Resource Optimization & Freight Infrastructure Technician Simulator | · EA | $6.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $44k (exactly $43,827) | Simple Software Solutions |
 | Deep Among the Swarm | $8.99 | 132 85% | 4.0k | $36k (exactly $35,600) | Pebble Mountain Games | |
 | Tempest Tower | $14.99 | 24 83% | 720 | $11k (exactly $10,793) | Half Past Yellow | |
 | Legacy of Sin: Ill-Boding | $12.99 | 23 69% | 690 | $9.0k (exactly $8,963) | Absolute Power Game Studio | |
 | Recursive | $6.99 | 39 79% | 1.2k | $8.2k (exactly $8,178) | Xero |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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