Games › Investigation › Investigation + Roguelike
Should I ship an Investigation Roguelike?
Investigation + Roguelike
Of 26 developers who shipped an Investigation 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.. 53 more are announced, ×4.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $80k, ×169 the market median. Revenue is up 35% on the market; 53 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.8k (exactly $1,797) |
| Top 25% | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) |
| Top 5% | $80k (exactly $80,496) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 26 |
| Released games | 46 |
| Announced | 53 |
| 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 as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Investigation
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Investigation, Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Exploration, Puzzle
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, 2D, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 85% positive over 17,908 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Investigation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Escape RoomFair
- + IdlerFair
- + TriviaLong shot
- + LGBTQ+Poor odds
- + JRPGPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + RomancePoor odds
- + GothicPoor odds
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Card GamePoor odds
- + SciencePoor odds
Comparable games
Blue Prince 2025 · $16M 
Depersonalization 2024 · $3.6M 
HellSign 2021 · $1.3M 
Anoxia Station 2025 · $80k 
DarKnot 2022 · EA · $29k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Blue Prince | $29.99 | 17,498 85% | 525k | $16M (exactly $15,742,951) | Dogubomb | |
| | Depersonalization | older | $19.99 | 6,041 92% | 181k | $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) | MeowNature |
| | HellSign | older | $19.99 | 2,147 67% | 64k | $1.3M (exactly $1,287,556) | Ballistic Interactive |
| | Anoxia Station | $14.99 | 179 76% | 5.4k | $80k (exactly $80,496) | Bonereaders | |
| | DarKnot | · EA older | $16.90 | 58 56% | 1.7k | $29k (exactly $29,406) | DarKnot Team |
 | 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 |
 | The Detective Reaper Invites | older | $9.99 | 58 37% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | SHIZU KANO UMI |
 | 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 | |
 | BeatRider | $11.99 | 32 53% | 960 | $12k (exactly $11,510) | 无限电玩, Combo X Camp | |
 | Victor's Test Night: REVES | $7.99 | 35 97% | 1.1k | $8.4k (exactly $8,390) | 727 Not Hound | |
 | Dungeon Tells | $7.99 | 32 75% | 960 | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) | Ace Benoff | |
 | InfinityMine | · EA | $8.99 | 16 68% | 480 | $4.3k (exactly $4,315) | HayaseWorks |
 | The Office Killer | $9.99 | 13 92% | 390 | $3.9k (exactly $3,896) | IceMoon Games | |
 | Empty Village (Part 1) | $4.99 | 21 90% | 630 | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) | 트리니티 소프트웨어, PASSWORLD, 이정겸(CEO OF PASSW… (트리니티 소프트웨어, PASSWORLD, 이정겸(CEO OF PASSWORLD)) |
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.