Games › 4 Player Local › 4 Player Local + Action Roguelike
Should I ship a 4 Player Local Action Roguelike?
4 Player Local + Action Roguelike
Of 32 developers who shipped a 4 Player Local Action Roguelike 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.. 73 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $480, level with the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $47k, ×100 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 73 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $179 (exactly $179) |
|---|---|
| Median | $479 (exactly $479) |
| Top 25% | $7.0k (exactly $7,015) |
| Top 5% | $48k (exactly $47,668) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 91 |
| Announced | 73 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.00 |
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 60% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- 4 Player Local
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Action Roguelike
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- 4 Player Local, Action Roguelike; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelike, Local Co-Op
- Price point
- $5.00 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Funny
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 11,222 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 73 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
4 Player Local with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Open WorldFair
- + Multiple EndingsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + CatsFair
- + RhythmFair
- + ManagementPoor odds
- + Football (Soccer)Poor odds
- + Beat 'em upPoor odds
- + Female ProtagonistPoor odds
- + TriviaPoor odds
- + MinigamesPoor odds
Comparable games
Spelunky 2 2020 · $12M 
PlateUp! 2022 · $11M 
Barony 2015 · $7.6M 
Lost Castle 2 2026 · $5.9M 
Lost Castle / 失落城堡 2016 · $5.5M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Spelunky 2 | older | $19.99 | 19,736 93% | 592k | $12M (exactly $11,835,679) | Mossmouth, BlitWorks |
| | PlateUp! | older | $19.99 | 18,500 94% | 555k | $11M (exactly $11,094,450) | It's happening |
| | Barony | older | $19.99 | 12,714 90% | 381k | $7.6M (exactly $7,624,586) | Turning Wheel LLC |
| | Lost Castle 2 | $17.99 | 10,851 78% | 326k | $5.9M (exactly $5,856,285) | Hunter Studio | |
| | Lost Castle / 失落城堡 | older | $9.99 | 18,417 87% | 553k | $5.5M (exactly $5,519,575) | Hunter Studio |
 | Crawl | older | $14.99 | 5,625 95% | 169k | $2.5M (exactly $2,529,562) | Powerhoof |
 | Legend of Dungeon | older | $9.99 | 1,220 72% | 37k | $366k (exactly $365,634) | Robot Loves Kitty |
 | A Robot Named Fight! | older | $12.99 | 796 88% | 24k | $310k (exactly $310,201) | Morningstar Game Studio |
 | Metaverse Keeper / 元能失控 | · EA older | $14.99 | 588 77% | 18k | $264k (exactly $264,424) | Sparks Games |
 | Son of a Witch | older | $23.99 | 350 84% | 11k | $252k (exactly $251,895) | Bigosaur |
 | INTO EVIL | · EA | $14.99 | 106 92% | 3.2k | $48k (exactly $47,668) | Mind's Eye Games |
 | Rogue Fist | $8.99 | 92 89% | 2.8k | $25k (exactly $24,812) | Wetcoat Games | |
 | Cursed Blood | · EA | $14.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | David Marquardt Studios |
 | Wild Rumble | $14.99 | 33 87% | 990 | $15k (exactly $14,840) | Mean Mink | |
 | Otherlights | · EA | $19.99 | 15 100% | 450 | $9.0k (exactly $8,996) | Soleil Artificiel |
 | Bugscraper | $9.99 | 28 96% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | Yolwoocle, OLX, Verbaudet, Ninesliced | |
 | Skulltide | $12.99 | 18 66% | 540 | $7.0k (exactly $7,015) | The Planar Danse | |
 | Jumalien | $9.99 | 14 100% | 420 | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) | Kevin Pedatte | |
 | Carrot Survivors | $4.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $4.2k (exactly $4,192) | Carrot Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.