Do I ship it?

Games › Traditional Roguelike › Traditional Roguelike + Magic

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Magic Traditional Roguelike?

Traditional Roguelike + Magic

Of 37 developers who shipped a Magic Traditional 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.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.3k, ×2.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $180k, ×389 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 53 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 65% on the market, 53 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Traditional Roguelike + Magic
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 37
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $239 → $179 → $6.2k → $1.3k → $3.0k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Traditional Roguelike + Magic: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 37
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.3k (exactly $1,319)
Top 25% $6.2k (exactly $6,232)
Top 5% $185k (exactly $184,708)
Developers, 2 yr 37
Released games 75
Announced 53
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 65% on the market, supply 170% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Traditional Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Magic
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Traditional Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, RPG, Strategy
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,674 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.3k, 1 in 4 over $6.2k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 13 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 53 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Traditional Roguelike with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Female ProtagonistFair15 devs · median $2.9k · 19 announced
  2. + Procedural GenerationFair71 devs · median $2.0k · 93 announced
  3. + CRPGFair12 devs · median $1.9k · 13 announced
  4. + Perma DeathFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 55 announced
  5. + Turn-Based CombatFair81 devs · median $1.4k · 107 announced
  6. + Sci-fiFair26 devs · median $1.4k · 23 announced
  7. + TacticalFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  8. + FantasyFair99 devs · median $898 · 125 announced
  9. + Turn-Based StrategyFair63 devs · median $779 · 101 announced
  10. + Turn-Based TacticsFair78 devs · median $629 · 95 announced
  11. + RoguelikeFair247 devs · median $599 · 314 announced
  12. + StrategyFair152 devs · median $599 · 207 announced

All 54 pairs on the Traditional Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Rift Wizard 2021 · $455k Rift Wizard 2 2025 · $446k Prime of Flames 2022 · $277k Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 2022 · $256k Tavern of Gods 2021 · $232k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Rift Wizard older $14.99 1,011 91% 30k $455k (exactly $454,647) Dylan White
Rift Wizard 2 $19.99 744 91% 22k $446k (exactly $446,177) Dylan White
Prime of Flames older $9.99 923 84% 28k $277k (exactly $276,623) RAYKA STUDIO
Monster Girls and the Mysterious Adventure 2 older $24.99 342 89% 10k $256k (exactly $256,397) NEKOTOKAGE GAMES
Tavern of Gods older $9.99 775 77% 23k $232k (exactly $232,268) Element Studio
Endgame of Devil older $6.99 964 88% 29k $202k (exactly $202,151) MiniWhale
Rift Wizard 3 · EA $19.99 308 88% 9.2k $185k (exactly $184,708) Dylan White, Khoops, Jacob Martinez
Dredgers older $11.99 471 88% 14k $169k (exactly $169,419) Pirate-Rob
Rogue Empire: Dungeon Crawler RPG older $14.99 355 84% 11k $160k (exactly $159,644) Portal Entertainment
Trials Survivors · EA $9.99 475 85% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Angry wisp
Backpack Dungeon $3.99 656 87% 20k $79k (exactly $78,523) 夜喵
Lost in Prayer · EA $19.99 92 80% 2.8k $55k (exactly $55,172) Nine Dots Studio
Beach Defense: Zombie Invasion $3.99 197 81% 5.9k $24k (exactly $23,581) Only Fun Games
Book Shooter $6.99 107 86% 3.2k $22k (exactly $22,438) SOS GameLab.
Feywood Wanderers $14.99 37 86% 1.1k $17k (exactly $16,639) Vicente Miranda
Alchemist's Alcove $7.99 32 96% 960 $7.7k (exactly $7,670) Nefarious Brew Games
Babel of Ystilia $7.99 26 100% 780 $6.2k (exactly $6,232) sundalik

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.