Solo indie game developer Blukulélé recently revealed detailed sales data related to their chess-themed deckbuilding roguelike Gambonanza, which launched earlier this month on Steam and mobile platforms. Wanting to “share the real numbers” with fellow peers, the dev offered insights on everything from sales trends and Wishlist growth, to how much revenue they actually took home after fees and taxes.
Only two weeks after its launch on May 1, Gambonanza sold over 200,000 units across all platforms, becoming a massive hit for Blukulélé. This was a first for the developer, as they say their previous two titles (the twin-stick shooter OVERHWELMED and the tower defense action game Sunstone War) failed to sell even 700 copies combined. At the time of their launch, the two games had accumulated around 115 and 2,000 Wishlists respectively, which apparently did not translate into meaningful revenue.
By contrast, Gambonanza performed on an entirely different scale. To Blukulélé’s surprise, Wishlist growth was strong from the moment the game was announced. Just five days after the Steam store page went live, the game had already reached 3,500 Wishlists, and the numbers continued climbing steadily, surpassing 10,000 within three weeks. One year after the store page opened, the game had reached 60,000 Wishlists, rising to 200,000 six months later.
Blukulélé says one major reason for the strong Wishlist growth was that the reveal trailer unexpectedly gained traction on platforms like YouTube. Looking at their trailers for OVERWHELMED and Sunstone War, the title only received a few thousand views each, whereas the Gambonanza reveal trailer has reached roughly 580,000 views at the time of writing.
What makes that especially noteworthy is that Blukulélé’s YouTube channel reportedly had only 12 subscribers when the trailer was posted, so it’s not surprising when they say the response was completely unexpected. The trailer also gained attention on X, and those two platforms became the main drivers of the game’s early visibility.
Even so, Blukulélé admits they still do not really understand why the game caught on. Responding to questions on X, the developer said: “It still feels a bit random to me honestly.” While the game’s concept and appeal clearly resonated with players, the developer themselves apparently does not have a clear explanation for it gaining so much visibility. Regardless, the viral trailer helped the game generate over 1,000 Wishlists per day shortly after announcement, giving it strong early momentum.
Steam events and playtests were also “insanely” effective in boosting visibility. Blukulélé submitted a demo to the strategy game showcase event TactiCon 2025, held on Steam in July 2025. The developer admitted they were nervous because the demo was still in an early, buggy state, but the event ended up producing a major response. Over the course of one week, the game gained 6,240 Wishlists.
Later, they participated in Steam Next Fest in February 2026. At the start of the event, the game had around 100,000 Wishlists, but by the end that number had risen to 138,000. Overall, Blukulélé says participating in Steam events turned out to be one of the game’s most effective promotional strategies.
By the time Gambonanza launched on May 1, 2026, it had accumulated around 200,000 Wishlists. The game sold 20,000 copies within the first 24 hours, and the momentum did not slow either: it reached 50,000 copies in four days, surpassed 100,000 within eight days, and had climbed to roughly 130,000 sales after two weeks.
The mobile version reportedly sold another 70,000 copies during the same period, bringing total combined sales across platforms to 200,000.
A life-changing success
According to Blukulélé, the game’s Wishlist conversion rate (how many people Wishlisted the game vs how many have bought it) sits at 12.1%, leading the developer to believe there are still many potential buyers waiting for future updates or sales.
One unexpected development, the developer says, is that Wishlist numbers have continued growing even after release. The game had around 200,000 Wishlists at launch, but now sits at over 300,000. Blukulélé believes this is being driven by word of mouth, viral clips shared on social media, and viewers discovering the game through streamers.
The developer also disclosed how much money they have actually earned from Gambonanza. After taxes, platform fees, and other expenses, Blukulélé says roughly $220,000 USD remained as personal income, which they describe as a life-changing success.
Blukulélé says this will allow them to focus on game development “without financial pressure for a while,” and thanked players who bought the game, provided feedback and helped spread the word. The developer also credited publishers Stray Fawn Studio and Sidekick Interactive for their support, saying the partnership helped not only with marketing and business metrics, but also with maintaining the developer’s health and overall wellbeing during production.
Blukulélé is continuing development on Gambonanza, with version 1.2.0 planned for release soon and version 1.3.0 already in the works. After that, the developer says they intend to take some time off to rest and recharge.
Gambonanza is currently available for PC (Steam), iOS and Android.
