Do I ship it?

Games › Inventory Management › Inventory Management + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Roguelike Deckbuilder?

Inventory Management + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Of 43 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Roguelike Deckbuilder 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.. 47 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $12k, ×25 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $1.2k. Revenue is up 65% on the market; 47 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 25.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 65% on the market, 47 announced, ×1.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Inventory Management + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 43
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.3k → $4.3k → $56k → $44k (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Inventory Management + Roguelike Deckbuilder: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 43
Bottom 30% $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Median $12k (exactly $11,870)
Top 25% $129k (exactly $128,756)
Top 5% $421k (exactly $421,078)
Developers, 2 yr 43
Released games 57
Announced 47
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $9.99

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 65% on the market, supply 130% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Roguelike Deckbuilder
effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Inventory Management, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Roguelite
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 24,977 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.2k, median $12k, 1 in 4 over $120k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 5 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 47 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds69 devs · median $15k · 62 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair10 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  3. + Artificial IntelligenceFair34 devs · median $11k · 44 announced
  4. + WargameFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  5. + Time ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  6. + DeckbuildingFair98 devs · median $2.5k · 137 announced
  7. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.7k · 74 announced
  8. + Card GameFair65 devs · median $1.6k · 86 announced
  9. + Trading Card GameFair21 devs · median $1.5k · 28 announced
  10. + Puzzle PlatformerFair20 devs · median $1.1k · 26 announced
  11. + God GameFair16 devs · median $1.1k · 15 announced
  12. + Local MultiplayerFair9 devs · median $719 · 12 announced

All 164 pairs on the Inventory Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M Backpack Hero 2023 · $4.5M Ring of Pain 2020 · $2.0M Vivid Knight 2021 · $735k Rana Card 2025 · $461k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Backpack Hero older $19.99 7,423 85% 223k $4.5M (exactly $4,451,573) Jaspel
Ring of Pain older $19.99 3,256 91% 98k $2.0M (exactly $1,952,623) Simon Boxer, Twice Different
Vivid Knight older $14.99 1,635 89% 49k $735k (exactly $735,260) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Rana Card $12.99 1,183 89% 35k $461k (exactly $461,015) VisionRana
Overlooting $9.99 1,405 81% 42k $421k (exactly $421,078) Posing Possums
Vivid World $19.99 591 88% 18k $354k (exactly $354,423) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Toy Smash Kaboom! $13.99 550 84% 17k $231k (exactly $230,835) Free Particle
Monster Battles $14.99 459 74% 14k $206k (exactly $206,412) Fourteen
Turnbound $14.99 446 78% 13k $201k (exactly $200,566) 1TK
Apokerlypse $9.99 612 81% 18k $183k (exactly $183,416) Breaker Games
Moonsigil Atlas $19.99 261 81% 7.8k $157k (exactly $156,522) Snake Tower Games
SealChain: Call of Blood $8.99 537 56% 16k $145k (exactly $144,829) AliveGameStudio

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