Have you considered using OverlayFS[1] instead of installing all files into the game directory and tracking them with a database? Or maybe what GNU Stow is doing where it installs each package into its own directory and then uses symlinks which it tracks to "install" the files into the global file hierarchy?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OverlayFS
[2] https://www.gnu.org/software/stow/