Do I ship it?

Games › Building › Building + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Building Action Roguelike?

Building + Action Roguelike

Of 77 developers who shipped a Building 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.. 134 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×2.9 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×1167 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 134 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 134 announced, ×3.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Building + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 77
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.4k → $1.2k → $5.7k → $4.1k → $6.0k → $3.0k → $1.5k (still earning) → $300 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Building + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 77
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,132)
Top 5% $733k (exactly $733,045)
Developers, 2 yr 77
Released games 144
Announced 134
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 80% on the market, supply 35% 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.

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
Building, Action Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Roguelite, Action
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 56,380 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $730k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 134 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Job SimulatorStrong odds66 devs · median $28k · 70 announced
  2. + CatsFair52 devs · median $4.5k · 59 announced
  3. + TabletopFair56 devs · median $1.9k · 58 announced
  4. + Grid-Based MovementFair50 devs · median $719 · 57 announced
  5. + Interactive FictionFair17 devs · median $449 · 20 announced
  6. + Vehicular CombatPoor odds14 devs · median $303k · 40 announced
  7. + JRPGPoor odds10 devs · median $89k · 20 announced
  8. + Dating SimPoor odds28 devs · median $85k · 61 announced
  9. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds112 devs · median $71k · 251 announced
  10. + Real-TimePoor odds14 devs · median $62k · 20 announced
  11. + CrimePoor odds13 devs · median $55k · 52 announced
  12. + SailingPoor odds13 devs · median $52k · 40 announced

All 210 pairs on the Building page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cult of the Lamb 2022 · $84M BALL x PIT 2025 · $11M PlateUp! 2022 · $11M MISERY 2025 · $7.8M Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M
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
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
Cultivation Tales older $19.99 12,560 38% 377k $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) Ac Games
HighFleet older $29.99 7,024 88% 211k $6.3M (exactly $6,319,493) Konstantin Koshutin
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition older $19.99 1,566 73% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Radiation Blue
Monsters are Coming! $8.99 2,718 79% 82k $733k (exactly $733,045) Ludogram
Primordialis · EA $19.99 974 93% 29k $584k (exactly $584,108) Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut
GRAIN ROT $9.99 1,845 88% 55k $553k (exactly $552,946) Beck & Branch Games
Achilles: Survivor $8.99 1,454 81% 44k $392k (exactly $392,144) Dark Point Games
Zombie Graveyard Simulator $14.99 805 89% 24k $362k (exactly $362,008) threeW
Lynked: Banner of the Spark $14.99 375 77% 11k $169k (exactly $168,638) FuzzyBot
The Ember Guardian $19.99 278 82% 8.3k $167k (exactly $166,717) Ratbit Games

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