Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Crime
Should I ship a Crime Roguelike?
Roguelike + Crime
Only 19 developers shipped a Crime Roguelike in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Karate Survivor, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 42 more are announced, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.2k, ×5.2 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $440k, ×714 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 42 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.2k (exactly $3,235) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,385) |
| Top 5% | $449k (exactly $448,651) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 38 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Visual Novel, Arcade
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $13.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 4,319 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
Sifu 2023 · $26M 
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience 2020 · $1.6M 
Godlike Burger 2022 · $477k 
Karate Survivor 2024 · $449k 
Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator 2026 · $308k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sifu | older | $39.99 | 21,620 92% | 649k | $26M (exactly $25,937,514) | Sloclap |
| | CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience | older | $19.99 | 2,596 91% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) | Delve Interactive |
| | Godlike Burger | older | $19.99 | 796 75% | 24k | $477k (exactly $477,361) | Liquid Pug |
| | Karate Survivor | $4.99 | 2,997 85% | 90k | $449k (exactly $448,651) | Alawar | |
| | Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator | $19.99 | 513 91% | 15k | $308k (exactly $307,646) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | The Swindle | older | $14.99 | 502 64% | 15k | $226k (exactly $225,749) | Size Five Games |
 | Rina's Undercover Train Operation | $13.99 | 286 70% | 8.6k | $120k (exactly $120,034) | Metamorphose | |
 | The Fable: Manga Build Roguelike | $9.99 | 240 91% | 7.2k | $72k (exactly $71,928) | MONO ENTERTAINMENT | |
 | Trapper: Drug Dealing RPG | · EA older | $19.99 | 102 88% | 3.1k | $61k (exactly $61,169) | Lathon Gaming |
 | XXX_CYBERRAT_XXX | older | $5.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $25k (exactly $24,619) | Nocturne Studio |
 | Lustpunk 69 | $8.99 | 83 87% | 2.5k | $22k (exactly $22,385) | Kinky Business Group | |
 | My Hotel | $16.99 | 40 30% | 1.2k | $20k (exactly $20,388) | BrainSwapper | |
 | N.O.X. | · EA | $16.99 | 31 51% | 930 | $16k (exactly $15,801) | LuminDrive |
 | Hacky | $4.99 | 95 93% | 2.9k | $14k (exactly $14,222) | Cuddle Code | |
 | Cult Leader Simulator | $17.99 | 16 50% | 480 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Nhneno | |
 | Robbing Time | · EA | $5.99 | 18 88% | 540 | $3.2k (exactly $3,235) | Monday Squid |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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