Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Psychological Horror
Should I ship a Psychological-Horror Action Roguelike?
Action Roguelike + Psychological Horror
Of 66 developers who shipped a Psychological-Horror 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.. 128 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×384 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 128 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,919) |
| Top 25% | $20k (exactly $19,793) |
| Top 5% | $182k (exactly $182,218) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 66 |
| Released games | 141 |
| Announced | 128 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 100% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- Psychological Horror
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Action Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Survival Horror, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, First-Person, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 9,738 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 128 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Action Roguelike with a different setting or mood, 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
Content Warning 2024 · $17M 
Returnal™ 2023 · $12M 
PANICORE 2024 · $3.2M 
Monstrum 2015 · $1.7M 
Nunholy 2025 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Content Warning | older | $7.99 | 72,444 93% | 2.2M | $17M (exactly $17,364,827) | Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen, Skog |
| | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
| | PANICORE | older | $9.99 | 10,748 78% | 322k | $3.2M (exactly $3,221,176) | ZTEK Studio |
| | Monstrum | older | $17.99 | 3,155 91% | 95k | $1.7M (exactly $1,702,753) | Team Junkfish |
| | Nunholy | $7.99 | 5,150 88% | 155k | $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455) | Chowbie | |
 | BELOW | older | $24.99 | 1,304 70% | 39k | $978k (exactly $977,609) | Capybara Games |
 | ALTF4 | older | $2.99 | 9,452 80% | 284k | $848k (exactly $847,844) | PUMPKIM |
 | Picayune Dreams | older | $4.99 | 4,164 98% | 125k | $623k (exactly $623,351) | Stepford, Andyland, milkypossum |
 | ORDER 13 | $8.99 | 1,224 87% | 37k | $330k (exactly $330,113) | Cybernetic Walrus | |
 | PUSS! | older | $9.99 | 1,062 92% | 32k | $318k (exactly $318,281) | teamcoil |
 | CRYO | · EA | $14.99 | 435 86% | 13k | $196k (exactly $195,620) | Valko Game Studios |
 | It Has My Face | $9.99 | 608 88% | 18k | $182k (exactly $182,218) | NightByte Games | |
 | Bendy: Lone Wolf | $19.99 | 259 77% | 7.8k | $155k (exactly $155,322) | Joey Drew Studios | |
 | Happy's Humble Burger Cult | $9.99 | 477 86% | 14k | $143k (exactly $142,957) | Scythe Dev Team | |
 | CAPTURED 2 | $7.99 | 564 99% | 17k | $135k (exactly $135,191) | Puck Redflix | |
 | Cursed Companions | $8.99 | 345 79% | 10k | $93k (exactly $93,046) | Crimson Forge Studios | |
 | Last Pirates: Die Together | · EA | $7.99 | 325 76% | 9.8k | $78k (exactly $77,902) | RetroStyle Games |
 | Super Drift Blade | $6.99 | 351 94% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,605) | Liujiajun |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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