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Should I ship an Inventory Management Turn-Based game?
Turn-Based + Inventory Management
Only 18 developers shipped an Inventory Management Turn-Based game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Backpack Battles, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 30 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $60k, ×95 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $8.5M, ×13558 the market median. Revenue is up 95% on the market; 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.8k (exactly $2,844) |
|---|---|
| Median | $60k (exactly $59,810) |
| Top 25% | $201k (exactly $200,566) |
| Top 5% | $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 30 |
| 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 up 95% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Turn-Based
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Inventory Management
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Turn-Based, Inventory Management; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Auto Battler
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
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 24,400 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.9k. 4 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Turn-Based with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerStrong odds
- + DragonsStrong odds
- + Hack and SlashStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + HorrorFair
- + CraftingFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + ChessFair
- + Tower DefensePoor odds
- + 4XPoor odds
Comparable games
Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M 
Backpack Hero 2023 · $4.5M 
Home Behind 2 2022 · $3.9M 
NEO Scavenger 2014 · $2.0M 
Ring of Pain 2020 · $2.0M | 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 |
| | Home Behind 2 | older | $19.99 | 6,585 86% | 198k | $3.9M (exactly $3,949,024) | TPP Studio |
| | NEO Scavenger | older | $14.99 | 4,437 89% | 133k | $2.0M (exactly $1,995,319) | Blue Bottle Games |
| | Ring of Pain | older | $19.99 | 3,256 91% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,952,623) | Simon Boxer, Twice Different |
 | City of Gangsters | older | $29.99 | 1,332 73% | 40k | $1.2M (exactly $1,198,400) | SomaSim |
 | Legends of Eisenwald | older | $19.99 | 1,394 76% | 42k | $836k (exactly $835,982) | Aterdux Entertainment |
 | Lootbound | $14.99 | 1,248 77% | 37k | $561k (exactly $561,226) | ArtDock | |
 | Knightica | $14.99 | 1,136 74% | 34k | $511k (exactly $510,859) | Mad Mango Games | |
 | Overlooting | $9.99 | 1,405 81% | 42k | $421k (exactly $421,078) | Posing Possums | |
 | 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 | |
 | Wardrum | $24.99 | 87 86% | 2.6k | $65k (exactly $65,224) | Mopeful Games | |
 | Valefor | $14.99 | 133 66% | 4.0k | $60k (exactly $59,810) | Valefor Ltd | |
 | Legends of Gems | $8.99 | 139 81% | 4.2k | $37k (exactly $37,488) | 南京西木优洛网络科技有限公司 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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