Games › Action Roguelike › Action Roguelike + Tower Defense
Should I ship a Tower Defense Action Roguelike?
Action Roguelike + Tower Defense
Of 142 developers who shipped a Tower Defense 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.. 218 more are announced, ×2.4 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 $240; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×289 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 218 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $240 (exactly $240) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $4.5k (exactly $4,496) |
| Top 5% | $137k (exactly $137,405) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 142 |
| Released games | 274 |
| Announced | 218 |
| 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 down 50% on the market, supply 75% 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
- Tower Defense
- 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, Tower Defense; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Strategy, Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 11,378 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 59 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 218 games are announced against 91 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 per shipper.
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
Cultivation Tales 2024 · $7.5M 
Bad North: Jotunn Edition 2018 · $5.6M 
Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap 2025 · $3.6M 
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M 
Marfusha:Sentinel Girls 2021 · $747k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Cultivation Tales | older | $19.99 | 12,560 38% | 377k | $7.5M (exactly $7,532,232) | Ac Games |
| | Bad North: Jotunn Edition | older | $14.99 | 12,344 93% | 370k | $5.6M (exactly $5,551,097) | Plausible Concept, Oskar Stålberg |
| | Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap | $29.99 | 4,053 69% | 122k | $3.6M (exactly $3,646,484) | Robot Entertainment | |
| | ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,953 64% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Marfusha:Sentinel Girls | older | $7.99 | 3,116 93% | 93k | $747k (exactly $746,905) | hinyari9 |
 | Monsters are Coming! | $8.99 | 2,718 79% | 82k | $733k (exactly $733,045) | Ludogram | |
 | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
 | Glory & Miserable Survivors DX | older | $9.99 | 1,488 88% | 45k | $446k (exactly $445,954) | TLACHTLI |
 | Necrosmith | older | $2.99 | 4,885 85% | 147k | $438k (exactly $438,185) | Alawar |
 | Achilles: Survivor | $8.99 | 1,454 81% | 44k | $392k (exactly $392,144) | Dark Point Games | |
 | Sineus Arena Survivors | $10.99 | 1,150 77% | 35k | $379k (exactly $379,155) | Sineus Games | |
 | Descenders Next | · EA | $29.99 | 389 79% | 12k | $350k (exactly $349,983) | RageSquid |
 | The Ember Guardian | $19.99 | 278 82% | 8.3k | $167k (exactly $166,717) | Ratbit Games | |
 | Grit and Valor - 1949 | $19.99 | 274 75% | 8.2k | $164k (exactly $164,318) | Milky Tea Studios | |
 | WAR RATS: The Rat em Up | $11.99 | 382 95% | 11k | $137k (exactly $137,405) | wootusart Industries | |
 | SHOOPER NOVA | $6.99 | 545 83% | 16k | $114k (exactly $114,286) | Jamesika | |
 | Keep Keepers | $17.99 | 135 87% | 4.1k | $73k (exactly $72,860) | Thunderrock Innovations |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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