Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Hacking
Should I ship a Hacking Roguelike?
Roguelike + Hacking
Of 32 developers who shipped a Hacking 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.. 61 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $98k, ×207 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 61 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,697) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) |
| Top 5% | $98k (exactly $98,116) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 52 |
| Announced | 61 |
| 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 35% on the market, supply 255% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 2%, 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; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Strategy, Logic
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 2,930 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 61 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Duskers 2016 · $1.4M 
Cogmind 2017 · EA · $1.2M 
Uplink 2006 · $637k 
Desktop Defender 2025 · $263k 
Minutescape 2025 · $98k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
| | Cogmind | · EA older | $24.99 | 1,560 95% | 47k | $1.2M (exactly $1,169,532) | Grid Sage Games |
| | Uplink | older | $11.99 | 1,771 89% | 53k | $637k (exactly $637,029) | Introversion Software |
| | Desktop Defender | $4.99 | 1,757 92% | 53k | $263k (exactly $263,023) | Conradical Games | |
| | Minutescape | $5.99 | 546 74% | 16k | $98k (exactly $98,116) | Molter | |
 | ATOMINE | older | $9.99 | 324 74% | 9.7k | $97k (exactly $97,103) | Broken Arms Games |
 | Into The Grid | · EA | $14.99 | 195 83% | 5.9k | $88k (exactly $87,692) | Flatline Studios |
 | Conglomerate 451 | older | $19.99 | 145 62% | 4.4k | $87k (exactly $86,956) | RuneHeads |
 | 868-BACK | $19.99 | 122 98% | 3.7k | $73k (exactly $73,163) | Michael Brough | |
 | Lia: Hacking Destiny | $14.99 | 92 96% | 2.8k | $41k (exactly $41,372) | Orube Game Studio | |
 | Hacky | $4.99 | 95 93% | 2.9k | $14k (exactly $14,222) | Cuddle Code | |
 | NET.CRAWL | $9.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | Everyone is Solid | |
 | Veiled Edge | · EA | $14.99 | 21 95% | 630 | $9.4k (exactly $9,444) | ONW Studio Inc, |
 | Kinetype | · EA | $6.99 | 36 83% | 1.1k | $7.5k (exactly $7,549) | Morlytic |
 | Dicey Hacker 1999 | $7.99 | 20 75% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | HuanMos Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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