Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Chess
Should I ship a Chess Roguelike?
Roguelike + Chess
Of 29 developers who shipped a Chess 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.. 43 more are announced, ×2.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.2k, ×2.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×275 the market median. Revenue is down 30% on the market; 43 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $17,383) |
| Top 5% | $131k (exactly $130,571) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 43 |
| Announced | 43 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 30% on the market, supply 165% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 5%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelike, Chess; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Strategy, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 78% positive over 2,660 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 21 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate 2022 · $1.8M 
Gambonanza 2026 · $721k 
The Ouroboros King 2023 · $141k 
Pawnbarian 2021 · $135k 
Passant: A Chess Roguelike 2025 · $131k | 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 |
| | Gambonanza | $14.99 | 1,604 74% | 48k | $721k (exactly $721,319) | Blukulélé | |
| | The Ouroboros King | older | $9.99 | 471 80% | 14k | $141k (exactly $141,159) | Oriol Cosp Games |
| | Pawnbarian | older | $9.99 | 450 91% | 14k | $135k (exactly $134,865) | j4nw |
| | Passant: A Chess Roguelike | $11.99 | 363 79% | 11k | $131k (exactly $130,571) | Marc Makes Games | |
 | Humiliation Dungeon Survivors | $9.99 | 325 87% | 9.8k | $97k (exactly $97,402) | Naku Kinoko | |
 | Chessplosion | older | $11.99 | 140 95% | 4.2k | $50k (exactly $50,358) | C.T. Matthews |
 | Below the Crown | $14.99 | 64 96% | 1.9k | $29k (exactly $28,781) | Misfits Attic | |
 | WizardChess | $14.99 | 56 83% | 1.7k | $25k (exactly $25,183) | TwoPM Studios | |
 | Chess Survivors | older | $4.99 | 155 83% | 4.7k | $23k (exactly $23,204) | Aarimous |
 | Yes, My Queen | $12.99 | 50 82% | 1.5k | $19k (exactly $19,485) | Wall Spaghetti | |
 | Once a Pawn a King | $11.99 | 54 55% | 1.6k | $19k (exactly $19,424) | Clover Bite | |
 | Tabulo | $9.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Noah Games | |
 | Order Automatica | $5.99 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $10k (exactly $10,423) | New Beings | |
 | Shattered Chess | $7.99 | 28 100% | 840 | $6.7k (exactly $6,712) | Arti Works |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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