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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Roguelike?
Roguelike + Interactive Fiction
Of 26 developers who shipped an Interactive Fiction 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.. 52 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $160k, ×343 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,873) |
| Top 5% | $163k (exactly $163,037) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 67 |
| Announced | 52 |
| 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 down 80% on the market, supply 125% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelike, Interactive Fiction; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Adventure, Choose Your Own Adventure
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 5,560 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown 2026 · $4.4M 
Heading Out 2024 · $383k 
Fabled Lands 2022 · $298k 
AI Roguelite 2023 · $268k 
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain 2016 · $211k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown | $34.99 | 4,162 79% | 125k | $4.4M (exactly $4,368,851) | Gamexcite | |
| | Heading Out | older | $19.99 | 639 74% | 19k | $383k (exactly $383,208) | Serious Sim, Crunching Koalas |
| | Fabled Lands | older | $18.99 | 523 79% | 16k | $298k (exactly $297,953) | Prime Games |
| | AI Roguelite | older | $14.99 | 597 83% | 18k | $268k (exactly $268,471) | Max Loh |
| | The Warlock of Firetop Mountain | older | $19.99 | 352 76% | 11k | $211k (exactly $211,094) | Tin Man Games |
 | Dyping Escape | $9.99 | 544 91% | 16k | $163k (exactly $163,037) | Heaviside Creations | |
 | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
 | Lost Scavenger | · EA older | $14.99 | 220 51% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Rockbee |
 | Find the Demon 恶魔鉴定守则 | $7.99 | 346 89% | 10k | $83k (exactly $82,936) | SHAKINO_UNION | |
 | Spooky Station | older | $4.99 | 345 88% | 10k | $52k (exactly $51,646) | Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO… (Coletivo Vaca Roxa, Vee, JoyMasher, PKO Game Studio, Spookids Team, Calangames, Expresso Studios, Pastel Studios, Heavy Sheep, LASTONE, Asteristic Game Studio) |
 | Stranger Maidens Please Protect Me! | $10.99 | 154 92% | 4.6k | $51k (exactly $50,774) | Volcanic Good Boy | |
 | Sword Mistress of the Dungeon Town | $17.99 | 38 65% | 1.1k | $21k (exactly $20,509) | ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Lov… (ラブリープリチー超愛してる, Lovely Pretty Ultra Loving You) | |
 | Landmine Princess | $6.99 | 90 91% | 2.7k | $19k (exactly $18,873) | Jeistar | |
 | がんばれ！受付嬢2 ～Stardust Liberate～ | $3.99 | 52 100% | 1.6k | $6.2k (exactly $6,224) | OBTcompany | |
 | Terror Diversion | $14.99 | 11 45% | 330 | $4.9k (exactly $4,947) | FatCoke | |
 | Necromancer Idle: The Endless Drain | $3.99 | 27 70% | 810 | $3.2k (exactly $3,232) | JBlivion |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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