Do I ship it?

GamesAdventureAdventure + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Deckbuilder Adventure game?

Adventure + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Of 59 developers who shipped a Roguelike Deckbuilder Adventure game 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.. 77 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $13k, ×27 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $780k, ×1643 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 77 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 26.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 45% on the market, 77 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Adventure + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 59
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $49k → $22k → $32k → $55k → $50k → $41k → $9.0k (still earning) → $7.0k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Adventure + Roguelike Deckbuilder: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 59
Bottom 30% $4.1k (exactly $4,133)
Median $13k (exactly $12,590)
Top 25% $68k (exactly $68,377)
Top 5% $780k (exactly $780,210)
Developers, 2 yr 59
Released games 139
Announced 77
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $11.99

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 45% on the market, supply 70% 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.

Adventure
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
Roguelike Deckbuilder
effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Adventure, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Roguelite, Strategy
Price point
$11.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $11.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 9,834 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.2k, median $13k, 1 in 4 over $68k, 1 in 20 over $780k.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.2k. 5 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 77 games are announced against 37 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Adventure with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + SamuraiFair13 devs · median $261k · 14 announced
  2. + FMVFair144 devs · median $39k · 151 announced
  3. + PinballFair11 devs · median $8.1k · 17 announced
  4. + Job SimulatorFair40 devs · median $6.3k · 50 announced
  5. + Escape RoomFair165 devs · median $2.2k · 151 announced
  6. + Mini GolfFair12 devs · median $2.2k · 11 announced
  7. + SportsFair228 devs · median $1.5k · 224 announced
  8. + GolfFair18 devs · median $1.4k · 16 announced
  9. + IncrementalFair384 devs · median $1.2k · 420 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair33 devs · median $599 · 33 announced
  11. + Traditional RoguelikeFair89 devs · median $449 · 119 announced
  12. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds10 devs · median $561k · 7 announced

All 279 pairs on the Adventure page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Chrono Ark older $24.99 12,623 90% 379k $9.5M (exactly $9,463,463) Al Fine
Across the Obelisk older $19.99 10,689 80% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) Dreamsite Games
Book of Demons older $24.99 8,010 91% 240k $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) Thing Trunk
Hand of Fate older $19.99 8,009 89% 240k $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) Defiant Development
Gordian Quest older $19.99 5,259 88% 158k $3.2M (exactly $3,153,822) Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holding… (Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holdings Pte Ltd)
Roguebook older $24.99 3,446 84% 103k $2.6M (exactly $2,583,466) Abrakam Entertainment SA
Vault of the Void older $17.99 2,529 92% 76k $1.4M (exactly $1,364,901) Spider Nest Games
Take Me To The Dungeon!! older $10.99 3,895 93% 117k $1.3M (exactly $1,284,182) Hanabi Fuusen
Overdungeon older $14.99 2,854 79% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,444) Pocketpair
Menace from the Deep $16.99 2,466 84% 74k $1.3M (exactly $1,256,920) Flat Lab
Black Jacket $14.99 1,751 91% 53k $787k (exactly $787,425) Mi'pu'mi Games GmbH
Death Howl $19.99 1,301 92% 39k $780k (exactly $780,210) The Outer Zone
Dream of Corpse Lady $9.99 2,115 93% 63k $634k (exactly $633,866) HT3 Studio
Shadowveil: Legend of The Five Rings $24.99 469 74% 14k $352k (exactly $351,609) Palindrome Interactive
Railroads & Catacombs $19.99 358 73% 11k $215k (exactly $214,693) MadRails
Three Kingdoms: The Blood Moon $8.99 746 91% 22k $201k (exactly $201,196) Kygua Tech
Hunter's Moon: A Sovereign Syndicate Adventure $19.99 205 83% 6.2k $123k (exactly $122,938) Crimson Herring Studios
Wander Stars $24.99 148 92% 4.4k $111k (exactly $110,956) Paper Castle Games
Die For The Lich · EA $11.99 275 78% 8.3k $99k (exactly $98,918) Monovoid

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