Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Deckbuilding

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Deckbuilding Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Deckbuilding

Of 137 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding 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.. 291 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×305 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 291 games are announced against 82 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue flat on the market, 291 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Deckbuilding
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 137
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.2k → $2.5k → $716 → $6.3k → $3.0k → $1.6k → $2.9k (still earning) → $1.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Deckbuilding: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 137
Bottom 30% $449 (exactly $449)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,156)
Top 25% $9.7k (exactly $9,730)
Top 5% $145k (exactly $144,829)
Developers, 2 yr 137
Released games 243
Announced 291
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 flat on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 15%, 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
Deckbuilding
effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic

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, Deckbuilding; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Action, Roguelite
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 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 $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 40,460 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $450, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $9.7k, 1 in 20 over $140k.

3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 64 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 291 games are announced against 82 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 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

暖雪 Warm Snow 2022 · $19M Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors 2026 · $5.6M Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M Hand of Fate 2 2017 · $4.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
暖雪 Warm Snow older $17.99 35,270 92% 1.1M $19M (exactly $19,035,219) BadMudStudio
Magicraft $15.99 15,051 92% 452k $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) Wave Games
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors $9.99 18,587 96% 558k $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) poncle, Nosebleed Interactive
Hand of Fate older $19.99 8,009 89% 240k $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) Defiant Development
Hand of Fate 2 older $29.99 5,273 84% 158k $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) Defiant Development
One Step From Eden older $19.99 6,039 94% 181k $3.6M (exactly $3,621,588) Thomas Moon Kang
Aces & Adventures older $19.99 2,220 89% 67k $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) Triple.B.Titles
Ravenbound older $29.99 770 53% 23k $693k (exactly $692,769) Systemic Reaction™
Omelet You Cook $14.99 1,523 97% 46k $685k (exactly $684,893) Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose
OVIS LOOP · EA $16.99 1,083 88% 32k $552k (exactly $552,005) LIFUEL
Reap and Rush $14.99 622 77% 19k $280k (exactly $279,713) Beijing Pacifier Technology
Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot $4.99 1,584 79% 48k $237k (exactly $237,125) Konfa Games
SealChain: Call of Blood $8.99 537 56% 16k $145k (exactly $144,829) AliveGameStudio
Bioweaver $6.99 668 77% 20k $140k (exactly $140,080) Emprom Game, Wild Kid Games
DreamEcho $11.99 369 79% 11k $133k (exactly $132,729) HotWaterStudio
Warlords Under Siege $9.99 436 77% 13k $131k (exactly $130,669) RedKar Devs

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