Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Incremental

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Incremental Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Incremental

Of 53 developers who shipped an Incremental 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.. 98 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $190k, ×413 the market median. Revenue is up 20% on the market; 98 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 20% on the market, 98 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Incremental
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 53
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $3.0k → $74k → $1.8k → $987 → $9.1k → $150 (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Incremental: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 53
Bottom 30% $239 (exactly $239)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,200)
Top 25% $5.4k (exactly $5,395)
Top 5% $196k (exactly $196,107)
Developers, 2 yr 53
Released games 99
Announced 98
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 up 20% on the market, supply 210% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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
Incremental
effort 1 / 10 · high · formulas and upgrade tables

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, Incremental; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Roguelike, Action
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $6.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $6.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 7,603 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 $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $5.3k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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

Astro Prospector 2025 · $482k Talented 2024 · $265k BORE BLASTERS 2024 · $212k Scarlet Skips 2026 · $196k Minutescape 2025 · $98k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Astro Prospector $4.99 3,223 91% 97k $482k (exactly $482,483) Incrementalist
Talented $5.99 1,475 91% 44k $265k (exactly $265,058) TurtleFox Games
BORE BLASTERS older $9.99 709 80% 21k $212k (exactly $212,487) 8BitSkull
Scarlet Skips $4.99 1,310 78% 39k $196k (exactly $196,107) Yerk Games
Minutescape $5.99 546 74% 16k $98k (exactly $98,116) Molter
KUNKUN Defender older $2.99 822 97% 25k $74k (exactly $73,733) Seal
Identifile: Desktop Dungeon · EA $9.99 148 91% 4.4k $44k (exactly $44,356) Gearbyte Games
Duncrush $3.99 321 82% 9.6k $38k (exactly $38,424) Golden Pick Games
Siegeturtle $4.99 254 86% 7.6k $38k (exactly $38,024) YYZ Studio
Just Click The Button older $2.99 341 90% 10k $31k (exactly $30,588) Simon Eftestol
Pet the Cat $4.99 155 83% 4.7k $23k (exactly $23,204) MEWSTURBO
Limitless Survivor $3.99 139 77% 4.2k $17k (exactly $16,638) Tam Lab
100FRIENDS $9.99 32 87% 960 $9.6k (exactly $9,590) TWIN PIXELS

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