Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical RPG › Tactical RPG + Inventory Management

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Inventory Management Tactical RPG?

Tactical RPG + Inventory Management

Of 31 developers who shipped an Inventory Management Tactical RPG 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.. 94 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.4 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $470k, ×764 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 94 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 94 announced, ×4.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical RPG + Inventory Management
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 31
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.2k → $38k → $179 → $18k → $2.2k → $1.2k (still earning) → $58k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical RPG + Inventory Management: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 31
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,156)
Top 25% $18k (exactly $17,985)
Top 5% $480k (exactly $479,760)
Developers, 2 yr 31
Released games 74
Announced 94
Effort 5 / 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 80% on the market, supply 190% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 19%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical RPG
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Tactical RPG, Inventory Management; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Strategy, Character Customization
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 4,835 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 $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $470k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 94 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair24 devs · median $9.0k · 29 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonFair30 devs · median $2.4k · 24 announced
  3. + Space SimFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  4. + Point & ClickFair21 devs · median $839 · 26 announced
  5. + 2D PlatformerFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced
  6. + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds10 devs · median $63k · 16 announced
  7. + Colony SimPoor odds16 devs · median $41k · 29 announced
  8. + SandboxPoor odds42 devs · median $20k · 102 announced
  9. + Turn-BasedPoor odds61 devs · median $18k · 81 announced
  10. + RobotsPoor odds15 devs · median $17k · 27 announced
  11. + RomancePoor odds23 devs · median $10k · 38 announced
  12. + WarPoor odds80 devs · median $8.7k · 143 announced

All 145 pairs on the Tactical RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot 2026 · $1.2M Legends of Eisenwald 2015 · $836k Scavland 2026 · EA · $480k Valorborn 2026 · EA · $369k Vivid World 2025 · $354k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot $14.99 2,588 82% 78k $1.2M (exactly $1,163,824) Hamma Studios
Legends of Eisenwald older $19.99 1,394 76% 42k $836k (exactly $835,982) Aterdux Entertainment
Scavland · EA $19.99 800 81% 24k $480k (exactly $479,760) NoShadow
Valorborn · EA $24.99 492 60% 15k $369k (exactly $368,852) Laps Games
Vivid World $19.99 591 88% 18k $354k (exactly $354,423) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
Alien Shooter TD older $9.99 676 84% 20k $203k (exactly $202,597) Sigma Team Inc.
Dark Bestiary older $8.99 511 88% 15k $138k (exactly $137,817) Qd
Time Break Chronicles · EA older $14.99 298 88% 8.9k $134k (exactly $134,011) Warrior General Games, LLC
Hero Tale older $4.99 421 68% 13k $63k (exactly $63,024) Weird Johnny Studio
The Adventurers $12.99 150 78% 4.5k $58k (exactly $58,455) Eternal Vigilance Entertainment
Dustwind: Resistance $19.90 47 80% 1.4k $28k (exactly $28,059) Dustwind Studios, Z-Software
Frontier: Path of Shadows $14.99 49 91% 1.5k $22k (exactly $22,035) Oduvan Games
Vault of Power $11.99 50 62% 1.5k $18k (exactly $17,985) Jim Games
Encounter: The Lost Cards $12.99 38 68% 1.1k $15k (exactly $14,809) Salvatore Grosso
Valiant Tactics $14.99 30 70% 900 $13k (exactly $13,491) Felid Entertainment

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