Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Auto Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Auto Battler Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Auto Battler

Of 81 developers who shipped an Auto Battler 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.. 124 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×211 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 124 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 124 announced, ×2.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Auto Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.3k → $4.2k → $6.8k → $5.1k → $1.0k → $839 → $599 (still earning) → $628 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Auto Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $839 (exactly $839)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,593)
Top 5% $100k (exactly $100,328)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 161
Announced 124
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 35% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Auto Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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, Auto Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 4,190 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $840, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 124 games are announced against 52 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action Roguelike with a different second tag, 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

Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M Be My Horde 2024 · EA · $615k Skull Horde 2026 · $422k Flash Doll 2025 · $232k Nomad Survival 2022 · $227k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Bad North: Jotunn Edition older $14.99 12,344 93% 370k $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg
Be My Horde · EA older $9.99 2,052 85% 62k $615k (exactly $614,984) Polished Games
Skull Horde $12.99 1,083 81% 32k $422k (exactly $422,045) 8BitSkull
Flash Doll $8.99 859 80% 26k $232k (exactly $231,672) Game Star
Nomad Survival older $4.99 1,517 87% 46k $227k (exactly $227,095) The Fox Knocks
Seer's Gambit $14.99 490 76% 15k $220k (exactly $220,353) Unleash The Giraffe
Just King older $4.99 1,362 89% 41k $204k (exactly $203,891) VISH
Legionbound $9.99 671 83% 20k $201k (exactly $201,099) Spicy Garlic Games
Infinite Tao older $3.99 852 79% 26k $102k (exactly $101,984) insomnia
Mage and Monsters II $8.99 372 82% 11k $100k (exactly $100,328) Lasse Zacho Malver
Shana - Priestess of Tona $9.99 190 74% 5.7k $57k (exactly $56,943) Lustration Team
Into the Restless Ruins $14.99 109 83% 3.3k $49k (exactly $49,017) Ant Workshop Ltd
Siegeturtle $4.99 254 86% 7.6k $38k (exactly $38,024) YYZ Studio
Wandness: WandCraft Survivor $6.99 107 74% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,438) Knight Owl Games, Binary Lunar
Warlords Battle Simulator $9.99 55 67% 1.7k $16k (exactly $16,484) RedKar Devs

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