Do I ship it?

Games › Mechanics › Time Manipulation

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time Manipulation game?

Time Manipulation

Of 300 developers who shipped a Time Manipulation 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.. 523 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $170k, ×379 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 523 games are announced against 171 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 523 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Time Manipulation
Fig. 1 · this niche among 355
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 300
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.8k → $1.6k → $1.0k → $839 → $987 → $2.9k → $479 (still earning) → $234 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Time Manipulation: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 300
Bottom 30% $180 (exactly $180)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $5.2k (exactly $5,211)
Top 5% $180k (exactly $179,910)
Developers, 2 yr 300
Released games 976
Announced 523
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.

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Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Time Manipulation
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Time Manipulation
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 95% positive over 16,129 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 $810, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $170k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 172 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 523 games are announced against 171 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · every pair with this tag

All pairs with Time Manipulation

104 pairs · ranked by verdict, then medianwith: mechanics · settings · any
  1. Time Manipulation + Demons Fair $2.7k 14 devs
  2. Time Manipulation + Capitalism Fair $1.8k 9 devs
  3. Time Manipulation + Modern Fair $987 12 devs
  4. Time Manipulation + Psychological Fair $897 18 devs
  5. Collectathon + Time Manipulation Fair $657 10 devs
  6. Racing + Time Manipulation Fair $599 10 devs
  7. Time Manipulation + Precision Platformer Fair $598 22 devs
  8. Time Manipulation + Choose Your Own Adventure Poor odds $13k 9 devs
  9. Time Manipulation + Robots Poor odds $11k 12 devs
  10. Time Manipulation + Post-apocalyptic Poor odds $6.7k 7 devs
  11. Time Manipulation + Detective Poor odds $6.5k 16 devs
  12. Time Manipulation + Noir Poor odds $6.5k 9 devs
  13. RPG + Time Manipulation Poor odds $5.4k 32 devs
  14. Action RPG + Time Manipulation Poor odds $5.1k 16 devs
  15. Time Manipulation + Dystopian Poor odds $4.9k 13 devs
  16. Hack and Slash + Time Manipulation Poor odds $4.7k 10 devs
  17. Time Manipulation + Multiple Endings Poor odds $3.6k 37 devs
  18. Action Roguelike + Time Manipulation Poor odds $3.1k 29 devs
  19. Time Manipulation + Visual Novel Poor odds $3.1k 17 devs
  20. Time Manipulation + Roguelike Poor odds $2.7k 39 devs
  21. Dungeon Crawler + Time Manipulation Poor odds $2.7k 16 devs
  22. Time Manipulation + Bullet Hell Poor odds $2.4k 22 devs
  23. Time Manipulation + Interactive Fiction Poor odds $2.4k 18 devs
  24. Time Manipulation + Perma Death Poor odds $2.4k 13 devs
  25. Management + Time Manipulation Poor odds $2.3k 25 devs
  26. Base Building + Time Manipulation Poor odds $2.3k 14 devs
  27. Time Manipulation + Top-Down Shooter Poor odds $2.2k 12 devs
  28. Tactical + Time Manipulation Poor odds $2.1k 22 devs
  29. Time Manipulation + Cyberpunk Poor odds $2.1k 18 devs
  30. Time Manipulation + Roguelite Poor odds $2.0k 38 devs
  31. Time Manipulation + Time Management Poor odds $2.0k 30 devs
  32. Time Manipulation + Historical Poor odds $2.0k 9 devs
  33. Exploration + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.9k 66 devs
  34. Time Manipulation + Female Protagonist Poor odds $1.9k 32 devs
  35. Character Customization + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.9k 18 devs
  36. Open World + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.9k 16 devs
  37. Automation + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.9k 8 devs
  38. Bullet Time + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.7k 35 devs
  39. Procedural Generation + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.5k 22 devs
  40. Building + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.4k 15 devs
  41. Time Manipulation + Investigation Poor odds $1.4k 15 devs
  42. Resource Management + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.3k 21 devs
  43. Adventure + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.1k 125 devs
  44. Time Manipulation + Sci-fi Poor odds $1.1k 62 devs
  45. Time Manipulation + Time Travel Poor odds $1.1k 55 devs
  46. Time Manipulation + Mystery Poor odds $1.1k 42 devs
  47. Time Manipulation + Point & Click Poor odds $1.1k 25 devs
  48. Stealth + Time Manipulation Poor odds $1.0k 17 devs
  49. Shooter + Time Manipulation Poor odds $987 38 devs
  50. Time Manipulation + Grid-Based Movement Poor odds $959 14 devs
Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

DEATHLOOP 2021 · $36M Katana ZERO 2019 · $30M Quantum Break 2016 · $28M SUPERHOT 2016 · $21M Touhou Luna Nights 2019 · $7.4M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
DEATHLOOP older $59.99 19,910 76% 597k $36M (exactly $35,832,027) Arkane Studios
Katana ZERO older $14.99 66,341 97% 2.0M $30M (exactly $29,833,548) Askiisoft
Quantum Break older $39.99 23,141 86% 694k $28M (exactly $27,762,258) Remedy Entertainment
SUPERHOT older $24.99 27,765 91% 833k $21M (exactly $20,815,420) SUPERHOT Team
Touhou Luna Nights older $17.99 13,776 97% 413k $7.4M (exactly $7,434,907) Team Ladybug, WSS playground
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE older $24.99 9,247 85% 277k $6.9M (exactly $6,932,476) SUPERHOT Team
SUPERHOT VR older $24.99 7,978 82% 239k $6.0M (exactly $5,981,107) SUPERHOT Team
F1® Manager 2024 older $34.99 5,554 83% 167k $5.8M (exactly $5,830,034) Frontier Developments
Twelve Minutes older $24.99 7,408 73% 222k $5.6M (exactly $5,553,778) Luis Antonio
Singularity™ older $29.99 5,487 93% 165k $4.9M (exactly $4,936,654) Raven Software
The Drifter $19.99 4,735 97% 142k $2.8M (exactly $2,839,580) Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd
Sovereign Tower $19.99 3,087 93% 93k $1.9M (exactly $1,851,274) WILD WITS GAMES
Hotel Architect $29.99 1,934 94% 58k $1.7M (exactly $1,740,020) Pathos Interactive
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II $59.99 669 83% 20k $1.2M (exactly $1,203,999) Nihon Falcom, PH3 GmbH
DevilConnection $16.66 1,951 98% 59k $975k (exactly $975,110) ChaoGames
Chrono Gear: Warden of Time $17.99 950 98% 29k $513k (exactly $512,715) Team Chrono Gear, GalaxyTrail
Million Depth $16.99 673 93% 20k $343k (exactly $343,028) Cyber Space Biotope
The Posthumous Investigation $19.99 554 94% 17k $332k (exactly $332,234) Mother Gaia Studio
Dinocop $14.99 737 96% 22k $331k (exactly $331,429) Pieces Games
Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum $12.99 839 98% 25k $327k (exactly $326,958) nodayshalleraseyou

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