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Should I ship a Visual Novel Time Management game?
Time Management + Visual Novel
Of 106 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 206 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×23 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $840; 1 in 20 cleared $380k, ×811 the market median. Revenue is down 20% on the market; 206 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $839 (exactly $839) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $10,782) |
| Top 25% | $69k (exactly $68,907) |
| Top 5% | $385k (exactly $385,198) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 106 |
| Released games | 224 |
| Announced | 206 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 20% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, 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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Time Management, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Simulation, Adventure
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 24,062 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $840. 7 in 10 of the 49 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 206 games are announced against 66 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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
Volcano Princess 2023 · $15M 
Summer Memories 2020 · $14M 
Magical Princess 2026 · $3.4M 
小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop 2021 · $3.0M 
School Days 2026 · $2.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Volcano Princess | older | $10.99 | 45,019 97% | 1.4M | $15M (exactly $14,842,764) | 养蛋人 Egg Hatcher |
| | Summer Memories | older | $19.99 | 24,113 92% | 723k | $14M (exactly $14,460,566) | Dojin Otome |
| | Magical Princess | $14.99 | 7,636 96% | 229k | $3.4M (exactly $3,433,909) | Neotro Inc., MAGI Inc. | |
| | 小白兔电商~Bunny e-Shop | older | $10.99 | 9,176 93% | 275k | $3.0M (exactly $3,025,327) | 落叶岛项目组, 橘子班 |
| | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | Lay a Beauty to Rest: The Darkness Peach Blossom Spring | older | $13.99 | 6,310 95% | 189k | $2.6M (exactly $2,648,307) | 零创游戏(ZerocreationGame) |
 | Kaiju Princess | older | $10.99 | 6,069 95% | 182k | $2.0M (exactly $2,000,949) | PantyParrot |
 | Kaiju Princess 2 | $17.99 | 3,107 96% | 93k | $1.7M (exactly $1,676,848) | PantyParrot | |
 | Dōkyūsei: Bangin' Summer | older | $19.99 | 1,809 93% | 54k | $1.1M (exactly $1,084,857) | Elf, Shiravune |
 | STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator | · EA older | $9.99 | 3,124 95% | 94k | $936k (exactly $936,263) | TERNOX |
 | Sex, Secrets & Used Tech | $16.99 | 1,291 85% | 39k | $658k (exactly $658,023) | WorkNite Games, 78Games | |
 | Corruption Town | · EA | $14.99 | 992 88% | 30k | $446k (exactly $446,102) | BoredBasmati |
 | Handyman Fantasy | $7.99 | 1,607 95% | 48k | $385k (exactly $385,198) | SupaShinKen Studio | |
 | Sunken Engine | $14.99 | 814 80% | 24k | $366k (exactly $366,056) | Two Nomads Studio | |
 | The NOexistenceN of Morphean Paradox : The Forest of Silver Shallots | · EA | $6.99 | 1,697 72% | 51k | $356k (exactly $355,861) | 0x0Real Studio |
 | Midnight Sin | $19.99 | 387 82% | 12k | $232k (exactly $232,084) | Faerin Games | |
 | NTRaholic SS | $14.99 | 508 62% | 15k | $228k (exactly $228,448) | Tiramisu, Big S Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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