Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Should I ship a Roguelike Deckbuilder Dungeon Crawler?
Dungeon Crawler + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Of 97 developers who shipped a Roguelike Deckbuilder Dungeon Crawler 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.. 131 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $11k, ×23 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $2.3k; 1 in 20 cleared $2.2M, ×4841 the market median. Revenue is flat on the market; 131 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
|---|---|
| Median | $11k (exactly $10,795) |
| Top 25% | $98k (exactly $98,035) |
| Top 5% | $2.3M (exactly $2,299,250) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 97 |
| Released games | 172 |
| Announced | 131 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 flat on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Dungeon Crawler
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Roguelike Deckbuilder
- effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Dungeon Crawler, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Roguelike, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 69% positive over 248,461 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $2.3k. 6 in 10 of the 44 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 131 games are announced against 58 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Dungeon Crawler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Time ManagementFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DiceFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + Local Co-OpFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Word GameFair
- + ThrillerFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + DwarvesPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Slay the Spire | older | $24.99 | 191,765 97% | 5.8M | $144M (exactly $143,766,220) | Mega Crit |
| | Slay the Spire 2 | · EA | $24.99 | 183,764 61% | 5.5M | $138M (exactly $137,767,871) | Mega Crit |
| | 9 Kings | · EA | $19.99 | 21,352 92% | 641k | $13M (exactly $12,804,794) | Sad Socket |
| | Across the Obelisk | older | $19.99 | 10,689 80% | 321k | $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) | Dreamsite Games |
| | Book of Demons | older | $24.99 | 8,010 91% | 240k | $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) | Thing Trunk |
| | Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors | $9.99 | 18,587 96% | 558k | $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) | poncle, Nosebleed Interactive | |
| | Hand of Fate 2 | older | $29.99 | 5,273 84% | 158k | $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) | Defiant Development |
| | Dicey Dungeons | older | $14.99 | 10,444 88% | 313k | $4.7M (exactly $4,696,667) | Terry Cavanagh |
| | Super Fantasy Kingdom | · EA | $19.99 | 5,630 86% | 169k | $3.4M (exactly $3,376,311) | Super Fantasy Games |
| | HELLCARD | older | $24.99 | 3,368 86% | 101k | $2.5M (exactly $2,524,990) | Thing Trunk |
| | He is Coming | · EA | $19.99 | 3,834 84% | 115k | $2.3M (exactly $2,299,250) | Chronocle |
| | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
| | Dungeon Clawler | $14.99 | 3,716 88% | 111k | $1.7M (exactly $1,671,085) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
| | Die in the Dungeon | $14.99 | 3,239 92% | 97k | $1.5M (exactly $1,456,578) | ATICO | |
| | Yao-Guai Hunter | $16.99 | 2,082 83% | 62k | $1.1M (exactly $1,061,195) | MyACG Studio | |
| | Breachway | · EA | $19.99 | 1,419 74% | 43k | $851k (exactly $850,974) | Edgeflow Studio |
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.