Do I ship it?

Games › Time Management › Time Management + Zombies

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Zombie Time Management game?

Time Management + Zombies

Of 27 developers who shipped a Zombie 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.. 29 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $630. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 29 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 29 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management + Zombies
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 27
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $299 → $95k → $3.6k → $2.1k → $90k → $1.8k (still earning) → $90 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management + Zombies: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 27
Bottom 30% $629 (exactly $629)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,063)
Top 25% $90k (exactly $89,910)
Top 5% $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894)
Developers, 2 yr 27
Released games 63
Announced 29
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 up 10% on the market, supply 15% more developers than 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
Zombies
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; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Management, Resource Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 10,639 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $630, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $89k, 1 in 20 over $1.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $630. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 15 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. + LootFair34 devs · median $1.5k · 47 announced
  7. + Turn-Based TacticsFair65 devs · median $1.4k · 69 announced
  8. + AutomationFair162 devs · median $1.2k · 191 announced
  9. + Bullet HellFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  10. + ThrillerFair42 devs · median $1.1k · 65 announced
  11. + Artificial IntelligenceFair53 devs · median $1.0k · 65 announced
  12. + Mystery DungeonFair11 devs · median $898 · 8 announced

All 179 pairs on the Time Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Infection Free Zone 2024 · EA · $12M Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster 2024 · $4.5M Deadly Days: Roadtrip 2025 · EA · $1.3M Survival Log 2026 · $893k Zombie Cure Lab 2025 · $295k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Infection Free Zone · EA older $24.99 16,568 80% 497k $12M (exactly $12,421,030) Jutsu Games
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster $49.99 2,971 80% 89k $4.5M (exactly $4,455,609) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Survival Log $10.99 2,709 82% 81k $893k (exactly $893,157) Midnight Workshop
Zombie Cure Lab $24.99 393 65% 12k $295k (exactly $294,632) Thera Bytes GmbH
CURE - A Hospital Simulator · EA $9.99 830 86% 25k $249k (exactly $248,751) Sentinel Games
Farm for your Life older $9.99 499 81% 15k $150k (exactly $149,550) Hammer Labs
Undead Inc. older $19.99 158 27% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Rightsized Games
Sex Shop Simulator: X-RAY DESIRE $6.99 448 68% 13k $94k (exactly $93,946) Doorway Games
City Defense Z $9.99 300 74% 9.0k $90k (exactly $89,910) Good Mood Games
Sitting Ducks $7.99 75 86% 2.3k $18k (exactly $17,978) The Gang Studio
Yet Another Incremental Game (but this time about coding) · EA $7.99 39 71% 1.2k $9.3k (exactly $9,348) Raclette Games
Cat Guardian $7.99 19 84% 570 $4.6k (exactly $4,554) Yaeegy

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