Games › Cooking › Cooking + Roguelike
Should I ship a Cooking Roguelike?
Cooking + Roguelike
Of 34 developers who shipped a Cooking 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.. 101 more are announced, ×4.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×7.1 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $970k, ×2061 the market median. Revenue is up 585% on the market; 101 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,356) |
| Top 25% | $94k (exactly $93,987) |
| Top 5% | $979k (exactly $979,080) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 53 |
| Announced | 101 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 585% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 4%, 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
- Cooking, Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Strategy, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.90 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.90 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 16,442 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 101 games are announced against 24 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Cooking with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + DogsFair
- + Turn-Based CombatFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Artificial IntelligencePoor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
Comparable games
PlateUp! 2022 · $11M 
SULFUR 2024 · EA · $7.2M 
Feed the Cups 2024 · EA · $2.3M 
Restaurats 2025 · $979k 
Card Survival: Fantasy Forest 2025 · EA · $749k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | PlateUp! | older | $19.99 | 18,500 94% | 555k | $11M (exactly $11,094,450) | It's happening |
| | SULFUR | · EA | $24.99 | 9,641 87% | 289k | $7.2M (exactly $7,227,858) | Perfect Random |
| | Feed the Cups | · EA older | $15.99 | 4,708 72% | 141k | $2.3M (exactly $2,258,428) | Vambear Games |
| | Restaurats | $19.90 | 1,640 89% | 49k | $979k (exactly $979,080) | toR Studio | |
| | Card Survival: Fantasy Forest | · EA | $21.99 | 1,135 76% | 34k | $749k (exactly $748,760) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Omelet You Cook | $14.99 | 1,523 97% | 46k | $685k (exactly $684,893) | Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose | |
 | Godlike Burger | older | $19.99 | 796 75% | 24k | $477k (exactly $477,361) | Liquid Pug |
 | Pizza Possum | older | $6.99 | 1,800 93% | 54k | $377k (exactly $377,460) | Friedemann, Noio Games |
 | Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse | $16.99 | 543 72% | 16k | $277k (exactly $276,767) | Frontside 180 | |
 | Kinny and the Cosmic Cauldron | $12.99 | 563 85% | 17k | $219k (exactly $219,401) | Kinnymoms | |
 | Feed the Scorchpot | $14.99 | 371 87% | 11k | $167k (exactly $166,839) | Moravian | |
 | Goblin Sushi | · EA | $9.99 | 404 89% | 12k | $121k (exactly $121,079) | Old Cake Factory |
 | Hungry Horrors | · EA | $14.99 | 209 98% | 6.3k | $94k (exactly $93,987) | Clumsy Bear Studio |
 | Skewer Squad | $5.49 | 413 88% | 12k | $68k (exactly $68,021) | Fake Owls |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.