Do I ship it?

Games › Management › Management + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Management game?

Management + Action Roguelike

Of 62 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Management game 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.. 129 more are announced, ×3.7 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×2.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $420k, ×681 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 129 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.6 times the market baseline, revenue down 80% on the market, 129 announced, ×3.7 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Management + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 62
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $180 → $629 → $3.0k → $239 → $4.9k → $300 (still earning) → $9.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Management + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 62
Bottom 30% $210 (exactly $210)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,618)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $16,484)
Top 5% $428k (exactly $427,972)
Developers, 2 yr 62
Released games 111
Announced 129
Effort 5 / 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 down 80% on the market, supply 30% 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.

Management
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
Management, Action Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Roguelite, Roguelike
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, 2D, First-Person
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 13,208 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $210, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $16k, 1 in 20 over $420k.

3 in 10 developers made under $210. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 129 games are announced against 35 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.7 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + RomeFair21 devs · median $64k · 23 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair195 devs · median $17k · 225 announced
  3. + WesternFair18 devs · median $13k · 22 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair114 devs · median $12k · 154 announced
  5. + JRPGFair37 devs · median $9.4k · 35 announced
  6. + MinigamesFair22 devs · median $7.4k · 15 announced
  7. + RhythmFair19 devs · median $5.9k · 24 announced
  8. + UnderwaterFair37 devs · median $5.0k · 54 announced
  9. + CollectathonFair182 devs · median $3.5k · 230 announced
  10. + DwarvesFair13 devs · median $3.2k · 18 announced
  11. + 3D FighterFair11 devs · median $3.1k · 15 announced
  12. + IncrementalFair611 devs · median $1.9k · 893 announced

All 214 pairs on the Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

PlateUp! 2022 · $11M Moonlighter 2018 · $10M Pax Autocratica 2026 · EA · $2.9M Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault 2026 · $2.8M Feed the Cups 2024 · EA · $2.3M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
PlateUp! older $19.99 18,500 94% 555k $11M (exactly $11,094,450) It's happening
Moonlighter older $19.99 17,286 82% 519k $10M (exactly $10,366,414) Digital Sun
Pax Autocratica · EA $29.99 3,202 91% 96k $2.9M (exactly $2,880,839) Multiverse
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault $29.99 3,146 80% 94k $2.8M (exactly $2,830,456) Digital Sun
Feed the Cups · EA older $15.99 4,708 72% 141k $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) Vambear Games
Cuisineer older $24.99 1,820 76% 55k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,454) BattleBrew Productions
Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition older $19.99 1,566 73% 47k $939k (exactly $939,130) Radiation Blue
Astro Prospector $4.99 3,223 91% 97k $482k (exactly $482,483) Incrementalist
Fell & Sell $9.99 1,428 84% 43k $428k (exactly $427,972) Art Games Studio S.A.
Zombie Graveyard Simulator $14.99 805 89% 24k $362k (exactly $362,008) threeW
Happy's Humble Burger Cult $9.99 477 86% 14k $143k (exactly $142,957) Scythe Dev Team
Mage and Monsters II $8.99 372 82% 11k $100k (exactly $100,328) Lasse Zacho Malver
Fracture Point $19.99 158 81% 4.7k $95k (exactly $94,753) Kyrylo Burlaka
Apocalypse Express $9.99 262 81% 7.9k $79k (exactly $78,521) Llamaware Studios
Keep Keepers $17.99 135 87% 4.1k $73k (exactly $72,860) Thunderrock Innovations

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