Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Detective
Should I ship a Detective Roguelike?
Roguelike + Detective
Of 27 developers who shipped a Detective 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.. 32 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $360, ×0.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $73k, ×155 the market median. Revenue is down 100% on the market; 32 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $120 (exactly $120) |
|---|---|
| Median | $359 (exactly $359) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $15,285) |
| Top 5% | $74k (exactly $73,605) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 27 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 100% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Exploration
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $13.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Hand-drawn, 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 83% positive over 1,251 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $120. 8 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
HellSign 2021 · $1.3M 
Betrayal At Club Low 2022 · $161k 
Rina's Undercover Train Operation 2026 · $120k 
Super Drift Blade 2025 · $74k 
2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces 2026 · EA · $45k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | HellSign | older | $19.99 | 2,147 67% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) | Ballistic Interactive |
| | Betrayal At Club Low | older | $9.99 | 538 97% | 16k | $161k (exactly $161,239) | Cosmo D Studios |
| | Rina's Undercover Train Operation | $13.99 | 286 70% | 8.6k | $120k (exactly $120,034) | Metamorphose | |
| | Super Drift Blade | $6.99 | 351 94% | 11k | $74k (exactly $73,605) | Liujiajun | |
| | 2 Fights in 2 Tight Spaces | · EA | $12.99 | 115 84% | 3.5k | $45k (exactly $44,816) | Ground Shatter |
 | Vegangsters | $12.99 | 69 92% | 2.1k | $27k (exactly $26,889) | Poison Pill Games | |
 | XXX_CYBERRAT_XXX | older | $5.99 | 137 94% | 4.1k | $25k (exactly $24,619) | Nocturne Studio |
 | Hodgepodge Hunch | older | $4.99 | 140 93% | 4.2k | $21k (exactly $20,958) | uracon |
 | Noir Syndrome | older | $4.99 | 138 65% | 4.1k | $21k (exactly $20,659) | Glass Knuckle Games |
 | Subway Exorcist Girl | $1.99 | 306 82% | 9.2k | $18k (exactly $18,268) | 纤指游戏 | |
 | N.O.X. | · EA | $16.99 | 31 51% | 930 | $16k (exactly $15,801) | LuminDrive |
 | Long Live Caesar | $9.99 | 51 78% | 1.5k | $15k (exactly $15,285) | Yury Khovansky, Vladislavs Viktorovs | |
 | TradingLife | · EA | $11.99 | 10 100% | 300 | $3.6k (exactly $3,597) | Fun(ctor) Studio |
 | Blightseed | $6.99 | 12 100% | 360 | $2.5k (exactly $2,516) | Zen of Mars | |
 | Agent Dunoz | $3.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $2.4k (exactly $2,394) | VIWESA GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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