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Should I ship an Inventory Management Perma Death game?
Inventory Management + Perma Death
Of 61 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Perma Death 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.. 136 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $88k, ×187 the market median. Revenue is up 515% on the market; 136 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.4k (exactly $1,439) |
| Top 25% | $9.7k (exactly $9,712) |
| Top 5% | $89k (exactly $88,688) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 61 |
| Released games | 135 |
| Announced | 136 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 515% on the market, supply 160% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Perma Death
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Inventory Management, Perma Death; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Procedural Generation, Roguelike, Roguelite
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 12,183 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. All of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 136 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Inventory Management with a different second tag, 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
Road to Vostok 2026 · EA · $5.2M 
NEO Scavenger 2014 · $2.0M 
Vagante 2018 · $1.9M 
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot 2026 · $1.2M 
God Of Weapons 2023 · $864k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Road to Vostok | · EA | $19.99 | 8,646 84% | 259k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,006) | Road to Vostok Ltd. |
| | NEO Scavenger | older | $14.99 | 4,437 89% | 133k | $2.0M (exactly $1,995,319) | Blue Bottle Games |
| | Vagante | older | $14.99 | 4,118 90% | 124k | $1.9M (exactly $1,851,865) | Nuke Nine |
| | Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot | $14.99 | 2,588 82% | 78k | $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) | Hamma Studios | |
| | God Of Weapons | older | $5.99 | 4,807 84% | 144k | $864k (exactly $863,818) | Imagine Games |
 | Slice & Dice | older | $8.99 | 2,484 96% | 75k | $670k (exactly $669,935) | Tann |
 | Spell Disk | older | $14.99 | 965 89% | 29k | $434k (exactly $433,960) | Sunpeak Games |
 | Night Raider | older | $5.99 | 1,908 85% | 57k | $343k (exactly $342,868) | TSUKUYOMIC |
 | The Banished Vault | older | $24.99 | 189 78% | 5.7k | $142k (exactly $141,693) | Lunar Division |
 | Devil Spire | older | $9.99 | 435 89% | 13k | $130k (exactly $130,370) | Ithiro Sumi, Lucas Perdomo, Lucas Bress… (Ithiro Sumi, Lucas Perdomo, Lucas Bressan) |
 | Fracture Point | $19.99 | 158 81% | 4.7k | $95k (exactly $94,753) | Kyrylo Burlaka | |
 | Peregrino | $16.99 | 174 65% | 5.2k | $89k (exactly $88,688) | Inverge Studios | |
 | Lucky Shot | $12.99 | 147 97% | 4.4k | $57k (exactly $57,286) | Deliver Games | |
 | Varthos - Heir to the Throne | · EA | $19.99 | 82 68% | 2.5k | $49k (exactly $49,175) | Nightshift Game Development |
 | Neon Village | $9.99 | 146 86% | 4.4k | $44k (exactly $43,756) | Encraft | |
 | BURNED HORIZONS | · EA | $44.99 | 29 34% | 870 | $39k (exactly $39,141) | BURNED HORIZONS STUDIO |
 | Planet Killer | $12.99 | 94 79% | 2.8k | $37k (exactly $36,632) | Talisman One Studio | |
 | Runehaven | $9.99 | 119 91% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $35,664) | Cikoria Studio |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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