Do I ship it?

Games › Arcade › Arcade + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Arcade game?

Arcade + Inventory Management

Of 82 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Arcade 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.. 129 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $420 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 61 developers shipped in the last year and 129 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 129 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arcade + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 82
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $210 → $0 → $46k → $11k → $1.3k → $719 → $359 (still earning) → $210 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arcade + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 82
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $420 (exactly $420)
Top 25% $2.9k (exactly $2,936)
Top 5% $57k (exactly $57,286)
Developers, 2 yr 82
Released games 169
Announced 129
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 down 60% on the market, supply 190% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Inventory 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
Arcade, Inventory Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Resource Management, Action
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,032 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $420, 1 in 4 over $2.9k, 1 in 20 over $57k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 7 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 61 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair59 devs · median $4.3k · 88 announced
  2. + TrainsFair20 devs · median $3.1k · 16 announced
  3. + Visual NovelFair101 devs · median $2.6k · 84 announced
  4. + MiningFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  5. + FaithFair16 devs · median $2.2k · 15 announced
  6. + Turn-BasedFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  7. + EconomyFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair72 devs · median $2.1k · 61 announced
  9. + DeckbuildingFair170 devs · median $1.9k · 234 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair68 devs · median $1.9k · 75 announced
  11. + LootFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced
  12. + VampiresFair34 devs · median $1.9k · 35 announced

All 270 pairs on the Arcade page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Spell Disk 2024 · $434k Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix 2020 · $313k Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway 2022 · $303k StrikeForce Kitty 2018 · $300k Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator 2025 · $172k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Spell Disk older $14.99 965 89% 29k $434k (exactly $433,960) Sunpeak Games
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix older $19.99 522 83% 16k $313k (exactly $313,043) Bamtang Games
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway older $49.99 202 69% 6.1k $303k (exactly $302,939) Bamtang Games
StrikeForce Kitty older $9.99 1,002 89% 30k $300k (exactly $300,299) Creepy Brothers
Corner Kitchen Fast Food Simulator $13.99 411 85% 12k $172k (exactly $172,497) Purple Heads Games
Gaming Cafe Simulator $13.99 385 83% 12k $162k (exactly $161,584) Prapancha Studios
Zombie Shooter older $4.99 911 82% 27k $136k (exactly $136,377) Sigma Team Inc.
Cursed Castilla (Maldita Castilla EX) older $11.99 336 92% 10k $121k (exactly $120,859) Locomalito, Gryzor87
Ultrapool $11.99 265 88% 8.0k $95k (exactly $95,320) Icedrop Games
Soulforge Lost Path $8.99 302 69% 9.1k $81k (exactly $81,449) Ziyue
Lucky Shot $12.99 147 97% 4.4k $57k (exactly $57,286) Deliver Games
PancitoMerge $7.99 158 99% 4.7k $38k (exactly $37,873) Fáyer, Sketchy Ceviche
The Economy Bros $19.99 56 82% 1.7k $34k (exactly $33,583) Devin Carlson
Luck & Loot $7.99 138 90% 4.1k $33k (exactly $33,079) SMARTcreative
Tech Store Simulator $9.99 103 61% 3.1k $31k (exactly $30,869) Astrasoft
Beast Breaker $14.99 67 95% 2.0k $30k (exactly $30,130) Vodeo Games, Huey Games

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