Do I ship it?

Games › Inventory Management › Inventory Management + Underground

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Underground Inventory Management game?

Inventory Management + Underground

Of 26 developers who shipped an Underground Inventory Management 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.. 65 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×4.4 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $78k, ×165 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 65 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.4 times the market baseline, revenue up 115% on the market, 65 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Inventory Management + Underground
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 26
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.5k → $5.8k → $1.8k → $5.3k → $2.2k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Inventory Management + Underground: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 26
Bottom 30% $59 (exactly $59)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $5.5k (exactly $5,513)
Top 5% $79k (exactly $78,523)
Developers, 2 yr 26
Released games 55
Announced 65
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
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 115% on the market, supply 320% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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.

Inventory Management
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Underground
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Inventory Management; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Adventure, RPG
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 1,392 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $59, median $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $5.5k, 1 in 20 over $78k.

3 in 10 developers made under $59. All of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Inventory Management with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds69 devs · median $15k · 62 announced
  2. + LGBTQ+Fair10 devs · median $17k · 13 announced
  3. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair43 devs · median $12k · 47 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair34 devs · median $11k · 44 announced
  5. + WargameFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  6. + Time ManagementFair181 devs · median $2.9k · 228 announced
  7. + DeckbuildingFair98 devs · median $2.5k · 137 announced
  8. + LogicFair70 devs · median $1.7k · 74 announced
  9. + Card GameFair65 devs · median $1.6k · 86 announced
  10. + Trading Card GameFair21 devs · median $1.5k · 28 announced
  11. + Puzzle PlatformerFair20 devs · median $1.1k · 26 announced
  12. + God GameFair16 devs · median $1.1k · 15 announced

All 164 pairs on the Inventory Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Arx Fatalis 2007 · $366k Air Defender 2025 · EA · $220k Miniland Adventure 2023 · $96k Backpack Dungeon 2026 · $79k Shokudo Underworld 2024 · $48k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Arx Fatalis older $4.99 2,443 87% 73k $366k (exactly $365,717) Arkane Studios
Air Defender · EA $20.19 364 78% 11k $220k (exactly $220,475) ROTOR3
Miniland Adventure older $10.99 290 72% 8.7k $96k (exactly $95,613) Imilkowski Dev
Backpack Dungeon $3.99 656 87% 20k $79k (exactly $78,523) 夜喵
Shokudo Underworld older $5.99 266 83% 8.0k $48k (exactly $47,800) Miluku Inc.
Footgun: Underground older $14.99 102 85% 3.1k $46k (exactly $45,869) Turtle Knight Games
Runehaven $9.99 119 91% 3.6k $36k (exactly $35,664) Cikoria Studio
Underchoice $7.99 113 72% 3.4k $27k (exactly $27,086) TG Indie
Roody:2d · EA older $14.99 48 97% 1.4k $22k (exactly $21,586) redinator2000
Jettatura older $12.99 21 90% 630 $8.2k (exactly $8,184) Nick Baker
The Backrooms: Rescue Expedition $9.99 21 33% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) {CRYTIME}
Metro Mini Market Simulator $3.99 49 69% 1.5k $5.9k (exactly $5,865) Altai Entertainment
Dig For Riches $7.99 23 52% 690 $5.5k (exactly $5,513) OxygenStudio
Internal Extraction $7.99 22 77% 660 $5.3k (exactly $5,273) LuisDev
InfinityMine · EA $8.99 16 68% 480 $4.3k (exactly $4,315) HayaseWorks
Bunker Constructor Simulator · EA $14.99 9 33% 270 $4.0k (exactly $4,047) Terno Games

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