Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Action game?

Action + Traditional Roguelike

Of 86 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike 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.. 110 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $450 in the last 2 years and $450 over 4, against a market of $630 for a 5 / 10 build. 63 developers shipped in the last year and 110 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 110 announced, ×1.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 86
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $41k → $210 → $2.3k → $1.7k → $449 → $449 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 86
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $449 (exactly $449)
Top 25% $2.3k (exactly $2,307)
Top 5% $21k (exactly $20,979)
Developers, 2 yr 86
Released games 135
Announced 110
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $4.99

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 down 60% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Traditional Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Traditional Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Action Roguelike, Combat
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.49 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.49 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 2,330 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $450, 1 in 4 over $2.3k, 1 in 20 over $20k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 110 games are announced against 63 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ZED ZONE 2023 · EA · $1.3M Lost in Random: The Eternal Die 2025 · $573k Fate Seeker: Journey 2022 · $332k Tavern of Gods 2021 · $232k Blazing Aries 2022 · $209k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ZED ZONE · EA older $11.99 3,506 81% 105k $1.3M (exactly $1,261,108) Leven Liu
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die $24.99 764 84% 23k $573k (exactly $572,771) Stormteller Games
Fate Seeker: Journey older $10.00 1,105 77% 33k $332k (exactly $331,500) JSL Entertainment
Tavern of Gods older $9.99 775 77% 23k $232k (exactly $232,268) Element Studio
Blazing Aries older $18.99 366 87% 11k $209k (exactly $208,510) Kuroto Zakka
WazHack older $9.99 586 89% 18k $176k (exactly $175,624) Waz
Trials Survivors · EA $9.99 475 85% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Angry wisp
Reignbreaker $9.99 444 75% 13k $133k (exactly $133,067) Studio Fizbin
Deadnaut: Signal Lost older $14.99 92 85% 2.8k $41k (exactly $41,372) Screwfly Studios
Silly Survivors $2.99 262 93% 7.9k $24k (exactly $23,501) DenaZ, SillyWorks
Gods Wars : infinity Epic $9.99 70 77% 2.1k $21k (exactly $20,979) YCGame
Warlords Battle Simulator $9.99 55 67% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) RedKar Devs
Dark Bone Prison $5.99 84 95% 2.5k $15k (exactly $15,095) Bunny Moon Shady
Rangedrifter · EA $14.99 27 100% 810 $12k (exactly $12,142) Max Schmidt
KUNKUN League $2.99 123 98% 3.7k $11k (exactly $11,033) Seal
DeAnima $9.99 26 84% 780 $7.8k (exactly $7,792) Steelgaze Studio

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