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Should I ship a Roguelike Deckbuilder Action game?
Action + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Of 56 developers who shipped a Roguelike Deckbuilder Action 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.. 86 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.1k, ×6.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×231 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 86 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,153) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.1k (exactly $4,133) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,783) |
| Top 5% | $145k (exactly $144,829) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 56 |
| Released games | 99 |
| Announced | 86 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Action
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Roguelike Deckbuilder
- effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Action, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Roguelike, Strategy
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 22,165 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.2k. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 86 games are announced against 33 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-Time with PauseFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + PinballFair
- + Escape RoomFair
- + Football (American)Fair
- + BaseballFair
- + BilliardsFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TennisFair
- + Time AttackFair
- + TabletopFair
- + WuxiaPoor odds
Comparable games
ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M 
Book of Demons 2018 · $6.0M 
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors 2026 · $5.6M 
Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M 
Hand of Fate 2 2017 · $4.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | Book of Demons | older | $24.99 | 8,010 91% | 240k | $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) | Thing Trunk |
| | Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors | $9.99 | 18,587 96% | 558k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) | poncle, Nosebleed Interactive | |
| | Hand of Fate | older | $19.99 | 8,009 89% | 240k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) | Defiant Development |
| | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
 | Fights in Tight Spaces | older | $24.99 | 3,545 90% | 106k | $2.7M (exactly $2,657,686) | Ground Shatter |
 | Overdungeon | older | $14.99 | 2,854 79% | 86k | $1.3M (exactly $1,283,444) | Pocketpair |
 | Last Evil | older | $9.99 | 3,559 94% | 107k | $1.1M (exactly $1,066,632) | Flametorch |
 | Heretic's Fork | older | $9.99 | 3,097 85% | 93k | $928k (exactly $928,171) | 9FingerGames |
 | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
 | SealChain: Call of Blood | $8.99 | 537 56% | 16k | $145k (exactly $144,829) | AliveGameStudio | |
 | Goblin Sushi | · EA | $9.99 | 404 89% | 12k | $121k (exactly $121,079) | Old Cake Factory |
 | Godslayer Arena | · EA | $14.99 | 257 76% | 7.7k | $116k (exactly $115,573) | Hippo Rider Games |
 | Golden Swirl | $19.99 | 149 92% | 4.5k | $89k (exactly $89,355) | Snako Production | |
 | Forest Heroes | $9.99 | 278 83% | 8.3k | $83k (exactly $83,317) | Hoochoo Game Studios | |
 | Cult of PiN | $14.99 | 184 77% | 5.5k | $83k (exactly $82,745) | KennyMakesGames | |
 | Into the Restless Ruins | $14.99 | 109 83% | 3.3k | $49k (exactly $49,017) | Ant Workshop Ltd | |
 | Toads of the Bayou | $9.99 | 137 72% | 4.1k | $41k (exactly $41,059) | La Grange |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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