Do I ship it?

Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Thriller

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Thriller Action Roguelike?

Action Roguelike + Thriller

Only 17 developers shipped a Thriller 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.. 44 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $1.4M, ×3120 the market median. Revenue is up 80% on the market; 44 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 80% on the market, 44 announced, ×4.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action Roguelike + Thriller
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $119 → $478 → $300 → $1.8k → $1.2k → $269 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action Roguelike + Thriller: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $718 (exactly $718)
Top 25% $1.8k (exactly $1,797)
Top 5% $1.5M (exactly $1,482,165)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 41
Announced 44
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 80% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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
Thriller
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Perma Death, Action
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 90% positive over 2,915 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $720, 1 in 4 over $1.7k, 1 in 20 over $1.4M.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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

Five Hearts Under One Roof season2 2025 · $1.5M Love Love School Days 2023 · $192k Bendy: Lone Wolf 2025 · $155k Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. 2025 · $118k Whacking Hell! 2024 · $11k
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
Love Love School Days older $5.99 1,067 95% 32k $192k (exactly $191,740) OTL GAME
Bendy: Lone Wolf $19.99 259 77% 7.8k $155k (exactly $155,322) Joey Drew Studios
Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. $8.99 438 70% 13k $118k (exactly $118,129) STUDIO POCO
Whacking Hell! older $9.99 36 72% 1.1k $11k (exactly $10,789) Sanuk Games
Asylum Nightmares older $10.99 19 84% 570 $6.3k (exactly $6,264) NecoPlanet
Grit Shot $6.99 29 75% 870 $6.1k (exactly $6,081) nithic
Eruption 爆发 · EA older $4.99 26 84% 780 $3.9k (exactly $3,892) DBH
Dark Days : Devil Hunt older $12.99 8 37% 240 $3.1k (exactly $3,118) Mavi Game Studios
Putridness VR · EA older $6.99 13 46% 390 $2.7k (exactly $2,726) Igor Litvinsky
Plaything $5.99 10 90% 300 $1.8k (exactly $1,797) Bandaloop Games GmbH
Still Space $2.99 13 100% 390 $1.2k (exactly $1,166) Sofa Interactive
From The Dark · EA $4.99 5 80% 150 $748 (exactly $748) Caleb Tyson
Alchemists · EA $5.99 4 0% 120 $719 (exactly $719) WASD Game Studio
Exit, Seriously? $3.99 6 83% 180 $718 (exactly $718) Forbidden
Swing of the Valkyries $8.99 2 100% 60 $539 (exactly $539) Sunseeker Games

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