Games › Inventory Management › Inventory Management + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Inventory Management game?
Inventory Management + Aliens
Of 23 developers who shipped an Alien Inventory 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.. 59 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $180, ×0.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $50. 59 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper, while revenue is up 435% on the market.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $179 (exactly $179) |
| Top 25% | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) |
| Top 5% | $20k (exactly $19,611) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 23 |
| Released games | 66 |
| Announced | 59 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $4.99 |
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 435% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Aliens
- 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
- Inventory Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $4.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 1,033 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 59 games are announced against 14 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Inventory Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + WargameFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + LogicFair
- + Card GameFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + Puzzle PlatformerFair
- + God GameFair
Comparable games
The Eternal Cylinder 2022 · $874k 
SENTRY 2024 · EA · $507k 
Alien Shooter 2 - The Legend 2020 · $489k 
Starsand 2022 · $483k 
Down with the Ship 2026 · EA · $367k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Eternal Cylinder | older | $24.99 | 1,166 89% | 35k | $874k (exactly $874,150) | ACE Team |
| | SENTRY | · EA older | $19.99 | 845 81% | 25k | $507k (exactly $506,746) | Fireblade Software |
| | Alien Shooter 2 - The Legend | older | $14.99 | 1,087 52% | 33k | $489k (exactly $488,824) | Sigma Team Inc. |
| | Starsand | older | $19.99 | 806 69% | 24k | $483k (exactly $483,358) | Tunnel Vision Studio |
| | Down with the Ship | · EA | $14.99 | 817 93% | 25k | $367k (exactly $367,405) | Iron Anchor Games |
 | Alien Shooter TD | older | $9.99 | 676 84% | 20k | $203k (exactly $202,597) | Sigma Team Inc. |
 | The Banished Vault | older | $24.99 | 189 78% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Lunar Division |
 | Alien Shooter 2 - New Era | older | $9.99 | 272 50% | 8.2k | $82k (exactly $81,518) | Sigma Team Inc. |
 | Arms Evolution: ZOMBIE DESTROYER | older | $5.99 | 268 64% | 8.0k | $48k (exactly $48,160) | Ash Game Studio |
 | Astro Hunters VR | older | $19.99 | 64 60% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $38,381) | Wenkly Studio Sp. z o.o. |
 | Inventorix | $4.99 | 131 100% | 3.9k | $20k (exactly $19,611) | Arcaludi | |
 | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Stellar Mess: Operation Kush (Chapter 2) | $5.99 | 19 100% | 570 | $3.4k (exactly $3,414) | Tibba Games | |
 | The Greys: Human Abductions | $7.99 | 11 72% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Branislav Banik | |
 | Asterogue | $5.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.4k (exactly $1,438) | Chris McCormick | |
 | Galleria | $4.99 | 7 85% | 210 | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) | Maru Studio | |
 | Fishing The Sky | $3.99 | 8 37% | 240 | $958 (exactly $958) | MewCoco | |
 | Qarma Quad | · EA | $10.00 | 2 100% | 60 | $600 (exactly $600) | Skel Studio |
 | StarShipdle | · EA | $4.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $449 (exactly $449) | CapriGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.