Games › Sandbox › Sandbox + Inventory Management
Should I ship an Inventory Management Sandbox?
Sandbox + Inventory Management
Of 217 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Sandbox 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.. 366 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×6.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.4k; 1 in 20 cleared $640k, ×1033 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 366 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.3k (exactly $1,347) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.2k (exactly $4,194) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $39,141) |
| Top 5% | $649k (exactly $648,899) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 217 |
| Released games | 450 |
| Announced | 366 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 down 70% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Sandbox
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Sandbox, Inventory Management; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Management, Economy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D, Realistic
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 130,968 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.4k. 6 in 10 of the 96 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 366 games are announced against 148 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Sandbox with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FightingStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + World War IIFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + CatsFair
- + SportsFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + Combat RacingFair
- + Trading Card GameFair
- + IdlerFair
Comparable games
ARK: Survival Ascended 2023 · EA · $144M 
Supermarket Simulator 2025 · $48M 
PC Building Simulator 2019 · $25M 
Drug Dealer Simulator 2020 · $11M 
Big Ambitions 2026 · $11M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ARK: Survival Ascended | · EA older | $44.99 | 106,761 60% | 3.2M | $144M (exactly $144,095,322) | Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, In… (Studio Wildcard, Grove Street Games, Instinct Games) |
| | Supermarket Simulator | $19.99 | 79,236 92% | 2.4M | $48M (exactly $47,517,829) | Nokta Games | |
| | PC Building Simulator | older | $19.99 | 42,153 93% | 1.3M | $25M (exactly $25,279,154) | Claudiu Kiss, The Irregular Corporation |
| | Drug Dealer Simulator | older | $19.99 | 18,297 85% | 549k | $11M (exactly $10,972,711) | Byterunners |
| | Big Ambitions | $25.99 | 14,003 92% | 420k | $11M (exactly $10,918,139) | Hovgaard Games | |
 | Waterpark Simulator | $12.99 | 13,280 96% | 398k | $5.2M (exactly $5,175,216) | CayPlay | |
 | Drug Dealer Simulator 2 | older | $24.99 | 5,480 69% | 164k | $4.1M (exactly $4,108,356) | Byterunners |
 | Two Worlds II HD | older | $24.99 | 3,880 60% | 116k | $2.9M (exactly $2,908,836) | Reality Pump Studios |
 | Survive the Nights | $19.99 | 4,719 68% | 142k | $2.8M (exactly $2,829,984) | a2z Interactive | |
 | Ship Graveyard Simulator 2 | older | $24.99 | 3,634 77% | 109k | $2.7M (exactly $2,724,410) | Games Incubator, Hypnotic Ants |
 | Grocery Store Simulator | $14.99 | 5,337 90% | 160k | $2.4M (exactly $2,400,049) | EXPERIMENT ONE | |
 | Gunsmith Simulator | $24.99 | 3,165 84% | 95k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,800) | GameHunters | |
 | Roadside Research | · EA | $14.99 | 3,991 85% | 120k | $1.8M (exactly $1,794,753) | Cybernetic Walrus |
 | Wrap House Simulator🌯 | $14.99 | 2,951 87% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,065) | Broken Lyre Entertainment, Wendigo Games | |
 | Mall Simulator | · EA | $13.99 | 3,139 82% | 94k | $1.3M (exactly $1,317,438) | F13 Games |
 | Used Cars Simulator | · EA | $19.99 | 1,147 79% | 34k | $688k (exactly $687,856) | DreamWay Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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