Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Time Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Management game?

Time Management

Of 1,495 developers who shipped a 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.. 2,364 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.6 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×521 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 2,364 games are announced against 946 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 2,364 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 1,495
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.1k → $3.1k → $1.9k → $1.9k → $1.8k → $1.4k → $1.0k (still earning) → $599 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 1,495
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,258)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,988)
Top 5% $248k (exactly $247,525)
Developers, 2 yr 1,495
Released games 3,667
Announced 2,364
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 15% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Time Management
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 485,932 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 711 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 2,364 games are announced against 946 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Time Management

134 pairs with a mechanicwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Dungeon Crawler + Time Management Fair $7.0k 35 devs
  2. Programming + Time Management Fair $7.0k 15 devs
  3. Inventory Management + Time Management Fair $2.9k 181 devs
  4. Agriculture + Time Management Fair $2.3k 57 devs
  5. Loot + Time Management Fair $1.5k 34 devs
  6. Turn-Based Tactics + Time Management Fair $1.4k 65 devs
  7. Automation + Time Management Fair $1.2k 162 devs
  8. Bullet Hell + Time Management Fair $1.2k 11 devs
  9. Mystery Dungeon + Time Management Fair $898 11 devs
  10. Walking Simulator + Time Management Fair $839 48 devs
  11. Time Management + Incremental Fair $748 203 devs
  12. Time Management + Match 3 Fair $748 12 devs
  13. Time Management + Logic Fair $600 141 devs
  14. Perma Death + Time Management Fair $539 49 devs
  15. Time Management + Hidden Object Fair $449 78 devs
  16. Third-Person Shooter + Time Management Long shot $538 15 devs
  17. Turn-Based Combat + Time Management Poor odds $24k 34 devs
  18. JRPG + Time Management Poor odds $18k 38 devs
  19. Time Management + Dating Sim Poor odds $16k 89 devs
  20. Job Simulator + Time Management Poor odds $12k 89 devs
  21. Time Management + Visual Novel Poor odds $11k 106 devs
  22. Deckbuilding + Time Management Poor odds $7.4k 28 devs
  23. Mining + Time Management Poor odds $6.0k 37 devs
  24. RPG + Time Management Poor odds $5.5k 223 devs
  25. Co-op + Time Management Poor odds $5.5k 107 devs
  26. Action Roguelike + Time Management Poor odds $5.4k 34 devs
  27. Online Co-Op + Time Management Poor odds $5.3k 109 devs
  28. Local Co-Op + Time Management Poor odds $5.0k 24 devs
  29. Sandbox + Time Management Poor odds $5.0k 259 devs
  30. Building + Time Management Poor odds $4.7k 262 devs
  31. Immersive Sim + Time Management Poor odds $4.7k 307 devs
  32. Outbreak Sim + Time Management Poor odds $4.3k 12 devs
  33. Time Management + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $4.2k 71 devs
  34. Character Customization + Time Management Poor odds $3.5k 130 devs
  35. Trading + Time Management Poor odds $3.5k 86 devs
  36. Transportation + Time Management Poor odds $3.2k 40 devs
  37. Life Sim + Time Management Poor odds $3.0k 392 devs
  38. Party-Based RPG + Time Management Poor odds $3.0k 13 devs
  39. Cooking + Time Management Poor odds $3.0k 175 devs
  40. Economy + Time Management Poor odds $3.0k 382 devs
  41. Crafting + Time Management Poor odds $2.9k 224 devs
  42. Diplomacy + Time Management Poor odds $2.7k 8 devs
  43. Management + Time Management Poor odds $2.5k 649 devs
  44. Base Building + Time Management Poor odds $2.5k 152 devs
  45. Rhythm + Time Management Poor odds $2.5k 14 devs
  46. Colony Sim + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 61 devs
  47. Roguelite + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 107 devs
  48. Fishing + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 24 devs
  49. Resource Management + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 532 devs
  50. Sports + Time Management Poor odds $2.4k 37 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Lethal Company 2023 · EA · $123M PEAK 2025 · $72M Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 · $53M Farming Simulator 25 2024 · $36M The Blood of Dawnwalker 2026 · $33M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Lethal Company · EA older $9.99 411,550 97% 12M $123M (exactly $123,341,535) Zeekerss
PEAK $7.99 301,964 94% 9.1M $72M (exactly $72,380,771) Team PEAK
Metaphor: ReFantazio $69.99 25,224 89% 757k $53M (exactly $52,962,833) ATLUS
Farming Simulator 25 $29.99 39,681 87% 1.2M $36M (exactly $35,700,996) GIANTS Software
The Blood of Dawnwalker $69.99 15,789 86% 474k $33M (exactly $33,152,163) Rebel Wolves
Path Of Wuxia older $34.99 28,286 78% 849k $30M (exactly $29,691,814) 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司
Farthest Frontier $34.99 24,444 86% 733k $26M (exactly $25,658,867) Crate Entertainment
Sultan's Game $24.99 25,061 93% 752k $19M (exactly $18,788,232) Double Cross
Content Warning older $7.99 72,444 93% 2.2M $17M (exactly $17,364,827) Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog
The Alters $34.99 15,330 90% 460k $16M (exactly $16,091,901) 11 bit studios
Big Ambitions $25.99 14,003 92% 420k $11M (exactly $10,918,139) Hovgaard Games
The Bus $39.99 7,831 73% 235k $9.4M (exactly $9,394,851) TML-Studios
LOCKDOWN Protocol $9.99 16,605 86% 498k $5.0M (exactly $4,976,518) Mirage Creative Lab

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