Do I ship it?

Games › Trading › Trading + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Trading Time Management game?

Trading + Time Management

Of 86 developers who shipped a Trading 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.. 143 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $3.5k, ×7.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $420; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×347 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 143 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 143 announced, ×2.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Trading + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 86
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $629 → $14k → $11k → $6.1k → $31k → $7.3k → $3.5k (still earning) → $1.8k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Trading + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 86
Bottom 30% $420 (exactly $420)
Median $3.5k (exactly $3,471)
Top 25% $25k (exactly $25,175)
Top 5% $165k (exactly $164,633)
Developers, 2 yr 86
Released games 160
Announced 143
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 40% on the market, supply 200% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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.

Trading
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
Trading, Time Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Management, Simulation, Resource Management
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Realistic
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 10,722 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $420, median $3.5k, 1 in 4 over $25k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $420. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 143 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + MiningFair32 devs · median $12k · 33 announced
  2. + Score AttackFair13 devs · median $600 · 13 announced
  3. + MMORPGPoor odds6 devs · median $206k · 42 announced
  4. + Character CustomizationPoor odds26 devs · median $60k · 137 announced
  5. + Online Co-OpPoor odds23 devs · median $47k · 84 announced
  6. + Co-opPoor odds24 devs · median $47k · 82 announced
  7. + FlightPoor odds6 devs · median $36k · 21 announced
  8. + SportsPoor odds11 devs · median $34k · 14 announced
  9. + CollectathonPoor odds28 devs · median $30k · 65 announced
  10. + PhysicsPoor odds23 devs · median $27k · 71 announced
  11. + DrivingPoor odds23 devs · median $24k · 48 announced
  12. + LootPoor odds23 devs · median $23k · 60 announced

All 109 pairs on the Trading page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Tiny Bookshop 2025 · $4.2M Cat Cafe Manager 2022 · $1.3M Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator 2021 · $774k Winkeltje: The Little Shop 2022 · $725k Pumping Simulator 2 2023 · $592k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Tiny Bookshop $19.99 6,967 96% 209k $4.2M (exactly $4,178,110) neoludic games
Cat Cafe Manager older $19.99 2,174 87% 65k $1.3M (exactly $1,303,748) Roost Games
Hundred Days - Winemaking Simulator older $24.99 1,033 77% 31k $774k (exactly $774,440) Broken Arms Games
Winkeltje: The Little Shop older $14.99 1,612 88% 48k $725k (exactly $724,916) Sassybot
Pumping Simulator 2 older $11.99 1,645 91% 49k $592k (exactly $591,706) Lance Games
Computer Tycoon · EA older $19.99 916 84% 27k $549k (exactly $549,325) Progorion
Medieval Crafter: Blacksmith $11.99 745 76% 22k $268k (exactly $267,976) Compact Core Games
Arctic Motel Simulator $17.99 465 88% 14k $251k (exactly $250,960) One Slice of Pizza Games
Prison Boss VR older $19.99 414 87% 12k $248k (exactly $248,276) TREBUCHET
Console Shop Simulator · EA $15.99 516 92% 15k $248k (exactly $247,525) Lance Games
Super Movie Tycoon $16.99 323 73% 9.7k $165k (exactly $164,633) Yuedong Game
I Know a Guy: Shady Life Simulator · EA $12.99 398 90% 12k $155k (exactly $155,101) Bunch'o'Nerds
Vanguard Galaxy · EA $8.99 565 90% 17k $152k (exactly $152,380) Bat Roost Games
Figure Shop Simulator $12.49 369 84% 11k $138k (exactly $138,264) Gnome Games
Medieval Horse Dealer Simulator $17.99 193 89% 5.8k $104k (exactly $104,162) One Slice of Pizza Games
Entertainment Simulator $18.99 181 73% 5.4k $103k (exactly $103,116) Grizzbera Studio

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