Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Aliens

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Alien Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Aliens

Of 134 developers who shipped an Alien 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.. 211 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $360 in the last 2 years and $360 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 72 developers shipped in the last year and 211 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 211 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Aliens
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 134
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $898 → $358 → $1.0k → $358 → $1.4k → $359 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Aliens: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 134
Bottom 30% $119 (exactly $119)
Median $358 (exactly $358)
Top 25% $2.2k (exactly $2,159)
Top 5% $44k (exactly $43,621)
Developers, 2 yr 134
Released games 303
Announced 211
Effort 4 / 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 25% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Aliens
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Action Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 50,153 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 $360, 1 in 4 over $2.1k, 1 in 20 over $43k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. 9 in 10 of the 70 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 211 games are announced against 72 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + RomanceStrong odds22 devs · median $6.5k · 17 announced
  2. + Creature CollectorFair39 devs · median $1.8k · 54 announced
  3. + SportsFair41 devs · median $1.6k · 39 announced
  4. + Boss RushFair20 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + VampiresFair55 devs · median $1.3k · 52 announced
  6. + IdlerFair44 devs · median $1.0k · 55 announced
  7. + DogsFair19 devs · median $899 · 18 announced
  8. + Precision PlatformerFair36 devs · median $629 · 38 announced
  9. + FaithFair16 devs · median $449 · 21 announced
  10. + Character Action GamePoor odds9 devs · median $20k · 40 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds13 devs · median $12k · 14 announced
  12. + MechsPoor odds44 devs · median $12k · 85 announced

All 205 pairs on the Action Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Shortest Trip to Earth 2019 · $980k Alien Hominid Invasion 2023 · $943k Space Beast Terror Fright 2022 · $564k TurretGirls 2025 · $564k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Shortest Trip to Earth older $25.99 1,257 76% 38k $980k (exactly $980,083) Interactive Fate
Alien Hominid Invasion older $19.99 1,572 88% 47k $943k (exactly $942,728) The Behemoth
Space Beast Terror Fright older $14.99 1,255 91% 38k $564k (exactly $564,374) nornware AB
TurretGirls $9.99 1,882 85% 56k $564k (exactly $564,035) NANAIRO ENTERPRISE
Star Fire: Eternal Cycle $16.99 1,012 91% 30k $516k (exactly $515,816) Ethereal Fish Studio
Genome Guardian older $11.99 711 92% 21k $256k (exactly $255,747) Alpherior
Go Mecha Ball older $19.99 371 85% 11k $222k (exactly $222,489) Whale Peak Games
Return to abyss 重返深渊 older $4.99 949 79% 28k $142k (exactly $142,065) Wingjoy Games
Space Scavenger older $12.99 289 86% 8.7k $113k (exactly $112,623) Red Cabin Games
9th Sentinel Sisters $7.99 273 69% 8.2k $65k (exactly $65,438) Live Wire
Raiden NOVA | 雷電NOVA | 雷電新星 $29.99 66 72% 2.0k $59k (exactly $59,380) MOSS Co., Ltd.
Let Them Come: Onslaught $7.99 216 89% 6.5k $52k (exactly $51,775) Tuatara Games
Flying Tank $14.99 97 86% 2.9k $44k (exactly $43,621) Hexage
Cowboy 3030 $14.99 96 87% 2.9k $43k (exactly $43,171) Soy Boy Games
Vortica $14.99 93 83% 2.8k $42k (exactly $41,822) Vortical Studios
Defender Bros · EA $19.99 64 90% 1.9k $38k (exactly $38,381) Lucky Dart

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