Do I ship it?

Games › Base Building › Base Building + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Base Building game?

Base Building + Action Roguelike

Of 101 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Base Building 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.. 187 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.5k, ×7.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×1167 the market median. Revenue is up 265% on the market; 187 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 7.2 times the market baseline, revenue up 265% on the market, 187 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Base Building + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 101
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $2.0k → $756 → $4.5k → $1.7k → $8.1k → $6.3k (still earning) → $1.6k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Base Building + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 101
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Top 25% $49k (exactly $48,851)
Top 5% $733k (exactly $733,045)
Developers, 2 yr 101
Released games 161
Announced 187
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 265% on the market, supply 80% 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.

Base Building
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Action Roguelike
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Base Building, Action Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Roguelike
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 144,355 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $4.5k, 1 in 4 over $48k, 1 in 20 over $730k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 37 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 187 games are announced against 65 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + ProgrammingFair13 devs · median $53k · 21 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair12 devs · median $13k · 19 announced
  3. + Bullet HellFair61 devs · median $540 · 67 announced
  4. + DiplomacyPoor odds19 devs · median $520k · 47 announced
  5. + SailingPoor odds9 devs · median $356k · 38 announced
  6. + Dating SimPoor odds19 devs · median $128k · 21 announced
  7. + TrainsPoor odds19 devs · median $113k · 47 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds20 devs · median $73k · 35 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds130 devs · median $72k · 262 announced
  10. + UndergroundPoor odds12 devs · median $65k · 71 announced
  11. + MarsPoor odds15 devs · median $58k · 28 announced
  12. + HistoricalPoor odds81 devs · median $58k · 175 announced

All 175 pairs on the Base Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cult of the Lamb 2022 · $84M Escape From Duckov 2025 · $45M BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M PlateUp! 2022 · $11M MISERY 2025 · $7.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Cult of the Lamb older $24.99 112,096 95% 3.4M $84M (exactly $84,038,371) Massive Monster
Escape From Duckov $17.99 83,826 85% 2.5M $45M (exactly $45,240,892) Team Soda
BALL x PIT $14.99 24,714 95% 741k $11M (exactly $11,113,886) Kenny Sun and Friends
PlateUp! older $19.99 18,500 94% 555k $11M (exactly $11,094,450) It's happening
MISERY $12.99 20,015 85% 600k $7.8M (exactly $7,799,846) Platypus Entertainment
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Cinderia · EA $17.99 4,763 88% 143k $2.6M (exactly $2,570,591) MyACG Studio
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition older $19.99 1,566 73% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Radiation Blue
Patch Quest older $14.99 2,058 94% 62k $925k (exactly $925,483) Lychee Game Labs
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
Anomaly President · EA $14.99 1,376 91% 41k $619k (exactly $618,787) Phew Phew Games
GRAIN ROT $9.99 1,845 88% 55k $553k (exactly $552,946) Beck & Branch Games
Dinotica $17.99 746 86% 22k $403k (exactly $402,616) XA Studio
Sineus Arena Survivors $10.99 1,150 77% 35k $379k (exactly $379,155) Sineus Games

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