Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Strategy › Turn-Based Strategy + Action Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship an Action Roguelike Turn-Based Strategy?

Turn-Based Strategy + Action Roguelike

Of 41 developers who shipped an Action Roguelike Turn-Based Strategy 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.. 85 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×206 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 85 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 100% on the market, 85 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Strategy + Action Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $6.8k → $130k → $300 → $1.3k → $1.6k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Strategy + Action Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,347)
Top 25% $3.8k (exactly $3,778)
Top 5% $130k (exactly $129,535)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 92
Announced 85
Effort 5 / 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 up 100% on the market, supply 95% 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.

Turn-Based Strategy
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
Turn-Based Strategy, Action Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 3,947 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $3.7k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 85 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaFair12 devs · median $19k · 17 announced
  2. + Cold WarFair18 devs · median $9.9k · 22 announced
  3. + RomeFair15 devs · median $9.0k · 18 announced
  4. + LootFair86 devs · median $6.3k · 97 announced
  5. + MiningFair10 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  6. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $3.7k · 12 announced
  7. + IdlerFair50 devs · median $3.6k · 45 announced
  8. + Asynchronous MultiplayerFair43 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  9. + TanksFair25 devs · median $3.0k · 24 announced
  10. + SokobanFair11 devs · median $2.1k · 11 announced
  11. + Top-Down ShooterFair13 devs · median $1.6k · 13 announced
  12. + SpaceFair107 devs · median $1.5k · 143 announced

All 187 pairs on the Turn-Based Strategy page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate 2022 · $1.8M Deadly Days: Roadtrip 2025 · EA · $1.3M Rogue Lords 2021 · $1.1M Wild Bastards 2024 · $647k Roundguard 2020 · $269k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate older $9.99 5,918 92% 178k $1.8M (exactly $1,773,625) PUNKCAKE Delicieux
Deadly Days: Roadtrip · EA $14.99 2,855 87% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,894) Pixelsplit
Rogue Lords older $24.99 1,442 71% 43k $1.1M (exactly $1,081,067) Leikir Studio, Cyanide Studio
Wild Bastards older $34.99 616 74% 18k $647k (exactly $646,615) Blue Manchu
Roundguard older $19.99 449 80% 13k $269k (exactly $269,265) Wonderbelly Games
Seer's Gambit $14.99 490 76% 15k $220k (exactly $220,353) Unleash The Giraffe
Dark Future: Blood Red States (Classic) older $24.99 250 70% 7.5k $187k (exactly $187,425) Auroch Digital
EcoGnomix $19.99 216 74% 6.5k $130k (exactly $129,535) Irox Games
The Land Beneath Us older $14.99 230 79% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) FairPlay Studios
Rack and Slay older $5.99 516 91% 15k $93k (exactly $92,725) Ludokultur
Bobo's Big Tower $9.99 93 92% 2.8k $28k (exactly $27,872) SillyKitty
Kill the Brickman $4.99 166 75% 5.0k $25k (exactly $24,850) Doonutsaur
Decks of Dexterity $14.99 33 100% 990 $15k (exactly $14,840) Coded Games
Sigilfarer: A Dice-Rolling Roguelite $11.99 33 72% 990 $12k (exactly $11,870) Viabo Games
100FRIENDS $9.99 32 87% 960 $9.6k (exactly $9,590) TWIN PIXELS
SoulTrigger · EA $9.99 17 94% 510 $5.1k (exactly $5,095) YHDATABASE
Trial of Ariah $11.95 12 91% 360 $4.3k (exactly $4,302) 30 Minute Games

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