Do I ship it?

Games › City Builder › City Builder + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike City Builder?

City Builder + Action Roguelike

Of 20 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike City Builder 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.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.1k, ×3.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $730k, ×1167 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 24 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
City Builder + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 20
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $2.7k → $6.0k → $59 → $2.1k (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for City Builder + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 20
Bottom 30% $298 (exactly $298)
Median $2.1k (exactly $2,096)
Top 25% $130k (exactly $129,535)
Top 5% $733k (exactly $733,045)
Developers, 2 yr 20
Released games 35
Announced 24
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 50% more developers than the period before.

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.

City Builder
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
City Builder, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Base Building, Building, Roguelike
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Isometric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 5,160 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 $2.1k, 1 in 4 over $120k, 1 in 20 over $730k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Visual NovelStrong odds10 devs · median $19k · 8 announced
  2. + LogicFair58 devs · median $3.3k · 74 announced
  3. + IncrementalFair75 devs · median $1.3k · 96 announced
  4. + Hidden ObjectFair16 devs · median $1.3k · 20 announced
  5. + ArcadeFair28 devs · median $898 · 27 announced
  6. + RacingLong shot12 devs · median $299 · 9 announced
  7. + RomePoor odds9 devs · median $423k · 10 announced
  8. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds13 devs · median $215k · 25 announced
  9. + HorrorPoor odds10 devs · median $157k · 21 announced
  10. + Alternate HistoryPoor odds17 devs · median $146k · 50 announced
  11. + Online Co-OpPoor odds32 devs · median $118k · 55 announced
  12. + DiplomacyPoor odds26 devs · median $108k · 47 announced

All 136 pairs on the City Builder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Monsters are Coming! 2025 · $733k Anomaly President 2026 · EA · $619k The Ember Guardian 2026 · $167k Warlords Under Siege 2025 · $131k EcoGnomix 2024 · $130k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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
The Ember Guardian $19.99 278 82% 8.3k $167k (exactly $166,717) Ratbit Games
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs
EcoGnomix $19.99 216 74% 6.5k $130k (exactly $129,535) Irox Games
Rogue Station older $9.99 225 77% 6.8k $67k (exactly $67,432) Quint Studio
Cast Out Colony $9.99 72 91% 2.2k $22k (exactly $21,578) Wooshido
Backpack Scavenger $9.99 20 55% 600 $6.0k (exactly $5,994) Backpack Scavenger
Forsaken Valley $9.99 12 91% 360 $3.6k (exactly $3,596) KineticFox
Starship Scramble $4.99 18 88% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Kultras Entertainment
TransmuTowers $4.99 14 78% 420 $2.1k (exactly $2,096) Edenic Era LLC

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