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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Action Roguelike?
Action Roguelike + Interactive Fiction
Only 13 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction Action Roguelike in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Five Hearts Under One Roof season2, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 14 more are announced.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $120 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 4 / 10 build. 8 developers shipped in the last year and 14 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $0 (exactly $0) |
|---|---|
| Median | $120 (exactly $120) |
| Top 25% | $51k (exactly $50,774) |
| Top 5% | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 14 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 23265% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Action Roguelike, Interactive Fiction; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Adventure, RPG, Action RPG
- Price point
- $14.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $14.99.
The top 9 games average 92% positive over 2,712 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 14 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Action Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomanceStrong odds
- + Creature CollectorFair
- + SportsFair
- + Boss RushFair
- + VampiresFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DogsFair
- + Precision PlatformerFair
- + FaithFair
- + Character Action GamePoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + MechsPoor odds
Comparable games
Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 2025 · $1.5M 
Heading Out 2024 · $383k 
Serum: Toxic Survival 2024 · EA · $190k 
Kromlech 2026 · EA · $122k 
Horny Housewives 2 2024 · $66k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 | $22.99 | 2,149 96% | 64k | $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165) | Storytaco | |
| | Heading Out | older | $19.99 | 639 74% | 19k | $383k (exactly $383,208) | Serious Sim, Crunching Koalas |
| | Serum: Toxic Survival | · EA older | $24.99 | 253 45% | 7.6k | $190k (exactly $189,674) | Game Island |
| | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
| | Horny Housewives 2 | $14.99 | 146 63% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $65,656) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | CyberPimp 2069 | $17.99 | 118 87% | 3.5k | $64k (exactly $63,685) | Entropy Digital Entertainment | |
 | Stranger Maidens Please Protect Me! | $10.99 | 154 92% | 4.6k | $51k (exactly $50,774) | Volcanic Good Boy | |
 | The Last Hope | older | $1.99 | 268 46% | 8.0k | $16k (exactly $16,000) | Balti Calarasi |
 | Light Speed Ride Out | · EA older | $4.99 | 20 90% | 600 | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) | brimselGames |
 | Misery Avenue | $3.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $479 (exactly $479) | Miseryous Games | |
 | Omega Luma : The First Battle | $12.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $390 (exactly $390) | Mavi Game Studios | |
 | Apex Ascent | $3.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $120 (exactly $120) | Avenax | |
 | GPU Inferno | $0.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $89 (exactly $89) | Moriba | |
 | Fractious | $59.99 | 0 0% | 0 | $0 (exactly $0) | Fractious |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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