Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Lovecraftian
Should I ship a Lovecraftian Roguelike?
Roguelike + Lovecraftian
Of 68 developers who shipped a Lovecraftian 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.. 120 more are announced, ×3.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×19 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.2k; 1 in 20 cleared $990k, ×2089 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 120 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.2k (exactly $1,166) |
|---|---|
| Median | $9.0k (exactly $8,991) |
| Top 25% | $49k (exactly $48,851) |
| Top 5% | $992k (exactly $992,499) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 168 |
| Announced | 120 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $8.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Lovecraftian
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Adventure, RPG
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 86% positive over 25,175 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.2k. 6 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 120 games are announced against 40 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.0 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
Darkest Dungeon® 2016 · $106M 
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation 2018 · $39M 
Darkest Dungeon® II 2023 · $29M 
Returnal™ 2023 · $12M 
Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Darkest Dungeon® | older | $24.99 | 140,790 91% | 4.2M | $106M (exactly $105,550,263) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation | older | $24.99 | 52,522 94% | 1.6M | $39M (exactly $39,375,743) | ProjectMoon |
| | Darkest Dungeon® II | older | $39.99 | 24,249 74% | 727k | $29M (exactly $29,091,525) | Red Hook Studios |
| | Returnal™ | older | $59.99 | 6,602 79% | 198k | $12M (exactly $11,881,619) | Housemarque, Climax Studios |
| | Magicraft | $15.99 | 15,051 92% | 452k | $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) | Wave Games | |
 | Iratus: Lord of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $6.5M (exactly $6,483,238) | Unfrozen |
 | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
 | WORLD OF HORROR | older | $19.99 | 8,991 89% | 270k | $5.4M (exactly $5,391,903) | panstasz |
 | Fear & Hunger | older | $7.99 | 20,881 94% | 626k | $5.0M (exactly $5,005,176) | Miro Haverinen |
 | SUNLESS SEA | older | $18.99 | 7,625 83% | 229k | $4.3M (exactly $4,343,962) | Failbetter Games |
 | The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu | $29.99 | 3,107 69% | 93k | $2.8M (exactly $2,795,368) | ACE Team | |
 | Menace from the Deep | $16.99 | 2,466 84% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,256,920) | Flat Lab | |
 | Decktamer | $15.99 | 2,069 86% | 62k | $992k (exactly $992,499) | Horizon Edge | |
 | Inkshade | $19.99 | 620 87% | 19k | $372k (exactly $371,814) | Studio Vezelle | |
 | Katanaut | $17.99 | 484 88% | 15k | $261k (exactly $261,215) | Voidmaw | |
 | Railroads & Catacombs | $19.99 | 358 73% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | MadRails | |
 | Starless Abyss | $19.99 | 296 83% | 8.9k | $178k (exactly $177,511) | Konafa Games | |
 | SealChain: Call of Blood | $8.99 | 537 56% | 16k | $145k (exactly $144,829) | AliveGameStudio | |
 | Nightmare Frontier | $24.99 | 187 69% | 5.6k | $140k (exactly $140,194) | Ice Code Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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