Games › Life Sim › Life Sim + Roguelike
Should I ship a Roguelike Life Sim?
Life Sim + Roguelike
Of 43 developers who shipped a Roguelike Life Sim 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.. 68 more are announced, ×2.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×7.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2150 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 68 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $356 (exactly $356) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) |
| Top 25% | $43k (exactly $42,898) |
| Top 5% | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,091) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 83 |
| Announced | 68 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 75% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Life Sim, Roguelike; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Immersive Sim, Roguelite
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $21.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Hand-drawn, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $21.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 17,949 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 19 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 68 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Life Sim with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + MinigamesStrong odds
- + MusicStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + Football (Soccer)Fair
- + FaithFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + DemonsFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + ZombiesFair
Comparable games
The Wandering Village 2025 · $7.0M 
Chinese Online Game 2024 · $2.0M 
Ostranauts 2026 · $1.9M 
CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience 2020 · $1.6M 
Bootstrap Island 2026 · $1.0M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Wandering Village | $29.99 | 7,734 91% | 232k | $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) | Stray Fawn Studio | |
| | Chinese Online Game | older | $9.99 | 6,610 82% | 198k | $2.0M (exactly $1,981,017) | 648工作室 |
| | Ostranauts | $19.99 | 3,137 77% | 94k | $1.9M (exactly $1,881,259) | Blue Bottle Games | |
| | CHANGE: A Homeless Survival Experience | older | $19.99 | 2,596 91% | 78k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,821) | Delve Interactive |
| | Bootstrap Island | $24.99 | 1,362 81% | 41k | $1.0M (exactly $1,021,091) | Maru VR | |
 | Card Survival: Fantasy Forest | · EA | $21.99 | 1,135 76% | 34k | $749k (exactly $748,760) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Lost But Found | $6.99 | 2,316 71% | 69k | $486k (exactly $485,665) | Rogue Duck Interactive | |
 | Feed the Scorchpot | $14.99 | 371 87% | 11k | $167k (exactly $166,839) | Moravian | |
 | Becoming a King | $14.99 | 281 77% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $126,366) | Lustration Team, TopHouse Studio | |
 | Dungeon Dreams 2 | older | $19.99 | 209 90% | 6.3k | $125k (exactly $125,337) | DDreams Games |
 | ROGUE LIGHT DECK BUILDER | $3.99 | 888 94% | 27k | $106k (exactly $106,294) | Gil Lawson | |
 | 我的人生 | $6.99 | 496 65% | 15k | $104k (exactly $104,011) | ZZ Games | |
 | Song's Fantasy | $7.99 | 229 55% | 6.9k | $55k (exactly $54,891) | 南十字座工作室 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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