Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Cats

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Cat Roguelike?

Roguelike + Cats

Of 80 developers who shipped a Cat 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.. 91 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.6k, ×3.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×343 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 91 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.5 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 91 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Cats
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 80
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $2.7k → $3.1k → $2.6k → $3.9k → $419 (still earning) → $1.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Cats: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 80
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.6k (exactly $1,647)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,840)
Top 5% $163k (exactly $163,037)
Developers, 2 yr 80
Released games 127
Announced 91
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $5.00

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 60% on the market, supply 35% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Cats
effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Strategy, Action
Price point
$5.00 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.00.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 5,454 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.6k, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $160k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 9 in 10 of the 36 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 91 games are announced against 46 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + JRPGFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  2. + 6DOFFair15 devs · median $4.7k · 7 announced
  3. + Grand StrategyFair18 devs · median $3.3k · 22 announced
  4. + VampiresFair59 devs · median $3.1k · 58 announced
  5. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.9k · 17 announced
  6. + Artificial IntelligenceFair60 devs · median $1.8k · 85 announced
  7. + SuperheroFair12 devs · median $1.1k · 17 announced
  8. + IdlerFair160 devs · median $1.0k · 206 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair841 devs · median $959 · 1,066 announced
  10. + Walking SimulatorFair29 devs · median $718 · 28 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  12. + Traditional RoguelikeFair247 devs · median $599 · 314 announced

All 231 pairs on the Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Atomicrops 2020 · $2.3M Garden of Witches 2026 · $1.1M Cat God Ranch 2024 · $549k Portal Dungeon 2023 · $447k Epic Auto Towers 2024 · EA · $345k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Atomicrops older $14.99 5,134 93% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) Bird Bath Games
Garden of Witches $18.99 1,978 92% 59k $1.1M (exactly $1,126,867) Team Tapas
Cat God Ranch older $9.99 1,831 92% 55k $549k (exactly $548,751) CrazyPotato Studio
Portal Dungeon older $14.99 995 88% 30k $447k (exactly $447,452) Dusk Dog Studio
Epic Auto Towers · EA $14.99 768 70% 23k $345k (exactly $345,370) Aleksandr Golovkin
Morsels $14.99 552 75% 17k $248k (exactly $248,234) Furcula
Cat Bait · EA older $4.99 1,446 96% 43k $216k (exactly $216,466) Mayni prod.
Dyping Escape $9.99 544 91% 16k $163k (exactly $163,037) Heaviside Creations
Batomon Showdown $14.99 327 87% 9.8k $147k (exactly $147,052) berrymint
Maze Mice $9.99 315 88% 9.5k $94k (exactly $94,406) TrampolineTales
Roulette Hero $9.99 260 92% 7.8k $78k (exactly $77,922) CLLC Studio
Replicat $9.99 213 99% 6.4k $64k (exactly $63,836) Brainoid Games
LOOTPLOT $6.99 221 94% 6.6k $46k (exactly $46,344) CodeTheory Ltd
Feng Shui Meowjong $4.99 276 95% 8.3k $41k (exactly $41,317) Wavebreak Studio

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