Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Time Management

Of 67 developers who shipped a Time Management Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 95 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×369 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 95 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 95 announced, ×2.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 67
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.5k → $5.2k → $4.8k → $32k → $1.4k → $4.3k → $2.9k (still earning) → $6.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 67
Bottom 30% $599 (exactly $599)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,156)
Top 25% $20k (exactly $19,895)
Top 5% $231k (exactly $231,482)
Developers, 2 yr 67
Released games 173
Announced 95
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 100% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Turn-Based Strategy
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Strategy, Time Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Simulation, Turn-Based Tactics
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 56,546 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $600, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $19k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $600. 8 in 10 of the 40 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 95 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M Sultan's Game 2025 · $19M Turmoil 2016 · $5.1M Deadly Days: Roadtrip 2025 · EA · $1.3M No Time to Relax 2019 · $1.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Metaphor: ReFantazio $69.99 25,224 89% 757k $53M (exactly $52,962,833) ATLUS
Sultan's Game $24.99 25,061 93% 752k $19M (exactly $18,788,232) Double Cross
Turmoil older $12.99 13,154 92% 395k $5.1M (exactly $5,126,114) Gamious
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
No Time to Relax older $13.99 2,486 92% 75k $1.0M (exactly $1,043,374) Porcelain Fortress
Robolife-Days with Aino older $14.99 1,387 91% 42k $624k (exactly $623,734) Barance Studio
Timeflow – Life Sim · EA older $14.99 1,379 91% 41k $620k (exactly $620,136) Digital Geckos
Help Will Come Tomorrow older $19.99 777 80% 23k $466k (exactly $465,967) Arclight Creations
Robolife2 - Nova Duty older $14.99 691 89% 21k $311k (exactly $310,743) Barance Studio
Dungeon Inn · EA $12.99 594 92% 18k $231k (exactly $231,482) Cat Society
HellSlave II: Judgment of the Archon $19.99 316 77% 9.5k $190k (exactly $189,505) Ars Goetia
Master of Chess $19.99 290 83% 8.7k $174k (exactly $173,913) BRANE
👑Idle Calibur：Zero💕（选王之剑：零） $10.99 445 80% 13k $147k (exactly $146,716) 绝汪
Requiem of Reuinis $11.99 359 91% 11k $129k (exactly $129,132) Zaxiquej, Otogen Studio
TK Punk Gold $11.99 291 87% 8.7k $105k (exactly $104,673) 桑尼游戏(Sunny Game)
挂机手游模拟器 $2.99 1,111 91% 33k $100k (exactly $99,657) 天光

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