Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Music

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Music Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Music

Only 11 developers shipped a Music 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, Ratatan, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 37 more are announced, ×5.3 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 $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $1.8M, ×3865 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 90% on the market, 37 announced, ×5.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Music
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 11
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $48k → $15k → $21k → $1.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Music: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 11
Bottom 30% $1.0k (exactly $1,048)
Median $1.2k (exactly $1,199)
Top 25% $21k (exactly $20,686)
Top 5% $1.8M (exactly $1,836,015)
Developers, 2 yr 11
Released games 33
Announced 37
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $7.99

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 90% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Music
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

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
Price point
$7.99 typical
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 2,666 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $1.1k, median $1.2k, 1 in 4 over $20k, 1 in 20 over $1.8M.

3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 37 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×5.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action Roguelike with a different setting or mood, 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

BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE 2020 · $5.8M Ratatan 2025 · EA · $1.8M ROBOBEAT 2024 · $1.0M Bardbarian 2014 · $185k Beat Blast 2021 · $128k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE older $19.99 9,598 91% 288k $5.8M (exactly $5,755,921) Awe Interactive
Ratatan · EA $24.99 2,449 85% 73k $1.8M (exactly $1,836,015) TVT Co. Ltd., Ratata Arts
ROBOBEAT older $19.99 1,708 94% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,024,288) Simon Fredholm
Bardbarian older $7.99 773 90% 23k $185k (exactly $185,288) TreeFortress Games
Beat Blast older $10.99 387 89% 12k $128k (exactly $127,594) Woolly Walrus Games
ONE BTN BOSSES older $11.99 165 87% 5.0k $59k (exactly $59,350) Midnight Munchies
Beat Slayer older $19.99 80 88% 2.4k $48k (exactly $47,976) ByteRockers' Games
City of Beats older $19.99 70 85% 2.1k $42k (exactly $41,979) Torched Hill
Kill The Music $9.99 106 96% 3.2k $32k (exactly $31,768) Nikko Nikko
Temp Zero older $4.99 156 94% 4.7k $23k (exactly $23,353) Alexandre Kadri, Paul Hebbinckuys
Metavoidal $14.99 46 93% 1.4k $21k (exactly $20,686) Yellow Lab Games
KILLBEAT $9.99 24 100% 720 $7.2k (exactly $7,193) Kalma Games
Snowlike $7.99 14 92% 420 $3.4k (exactly $3,356) captinbeefy
Fresh Tracks VR $19.99 2 100% 60 $1.2k (exactly $1,199) Buffalo Buffalo
Carnival Survivors The Parade $4.99 7 100% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Enchant Games
Big Band Survivors $4.99 7 85% 210 $1.0k (exactly $1,048) Moontrail Games
StreetSync $0.99 10 100% 300 $297 (exactly $297) Tyler L
Synergy Strike $5.25 1 100% 30 $158 (exactly $158) strangeboltz

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