Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Underwater

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underwater Time Management game?

Time Management + Underwater

Of 22 developers who shipped an Underwater 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.. 19 more are announced.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×278 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 19 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 19 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Underwater
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 22
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $175k → $6.4k → $597 → $899 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Underwater: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 22
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $899 (exactly $899)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $18,217)
Top 5% $175k (exactly $174,680)
Developers, 2 yr 22
Released games 37
Announced 19
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 85% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Underwater
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Time Management; 3 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Resource Management, Creature Collector
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 5,714 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $18k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 7 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 19 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Time Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Dungeon CrawlerFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair15 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  3. + Inventory ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  4. + AgricultureFair57 devs · median $2.3k · 73 announced
  5. + Time TravelFair17 devs · median $2.2k · 19 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair27 devs · median $2.1k · 29 announced
  7. + LootFair34 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  8. + Turn-Based TacticsFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  9. + AutomationFair162 devs · median $1.2k · 191 announced
  10. + Bullet HellFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  11. + ThrillerFair42 devs · median $1.1k · 65 announced
  12. + Artificial IntelligenceFair53 devs · median $1.0k · 65 announced

All 179 pairs on the Time Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Murky Divers 2024 · $1.1M Fantasy Aquarium 2024 · $175k Life Below 2026 · $135k Joyquarium 2025 · $85k Help! I'm Turning Into A Mermaid! 2026 · $59k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Murky Divers $8.99 3,981 87% 119k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,676) Embers
Fantasy Aquarium $6.99 833 79% 25k $175k (exactly $174,680) MOON SCAPE
Life Below $29.99 150 80% 4.5k $135k (exactly $134,955) Megapop
Joyquarium $5.99 475 90% 14k $85k (exactly $85,358) Easyfun Studio
Help! I'm Turning Into A Mermaid! $29.99 66 95% 2.0k $59k (exactly $59,380) Lached Up Games
Helle's Undersea City Project - Bringing Air to The Garden older $14.99 66 78% 2.0k $30k (exactly $29,680) Caro Builders
These Darker Tides $7.99 76 90% 2.3k $18k (exactly $18,217) Pixel Drip Games
Fantasy Fishing Town older $6.99 81 77% 2.4k $17k (exactly $16,986) RainbowStudio
Lost Artifacts: Golden Island older $14.99 37 72% 1.1k $17k (exactly $16,639) Creobit, GameOn Production
The people of Sea, Sun & Salt $9.99 44 100% 1.3k $13k (exactly $13,187) Emerick Gibson
Milo's Tiny Fish Pond $4.99 43 86% 1.3k $6.4k (exactly $6,437) MMUnit
Dockside Dreams – Fish & Cook Simulator $7.99 22 59% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) C51 Games
My Joyful Aquarium · EA $6.99 24 95% 720 $5.0k (exactly $5,033) Error 300

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