Games › Mechanics › Time Manipulation
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.
| 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.
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
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
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.
What kills games here
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.
All pairs with Time Manipulation
- Time Manipulation + 2D Platformer Dead $210
- PvP + Time Manipulation Dead $210
- Turn-Based Strategy + Time Manipulation Dead $150
- Time Manipulation + Runner Dead $120
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.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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