Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Mechs

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Mech Roguelike?

Roguelike + Mechs

Of 44 developers who shipped a Mech 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.. 88 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $14k, ×23 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $390; 1 in 20 cleared $1.1M, ×1811 the market median. Revenue is down 70% on the market; 88 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 22.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 70% on the market, 88 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Mechs
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 44
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.1k → $2.1k → $7.6k → $7.2k → $79k → $40k → $16k (still earning) → $1.5k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Mechs: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 44
Bottom 30% $390 (exactly $390)
Median $14k (exactly $14,386)
Top 25% $117k (exactly $116,941)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534)
Developers, 2 yr 44
Released games 126
Announced 88
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $9.99

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 70% on the market, supply 115% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 7%, 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.

Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Mechs
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Action Roguelike
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 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 $9.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 16,284 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $390, median $14k, 1 in 4 over $110k, 1 in 20 over $1.1M.

3 in 10 developers made under $390. 5 in 10 of the 15 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 88 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + JRPGFair85 devs · median $5.2k · 103 announced
  2. + 6DOFFair15 devs · median $4.7k · 7 announced
  3. + Grand StrategyFair18 devs · median $3.3k · 22 announced
  4. + VampiresFair59 devs · median $3.1k · 58 announced
  5. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.9k · 17 announced
  6. + Artificial IntelligenceFair60 devs · median $1.8k · 85 announced
  7. + SuperheroFair12 devs · median $1.1k · 17 announced
  8. + IdlerFair160 devs · median $1.0k · 206 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair841 devs · median $959 · 1,066 announced
  10. + Walking SimulatorFair29 devs · median $718 · 28 announced
  11. + 2D PlatformerFair264 devs · median $599 · 320 announced
  12. + Traditional RoguelikeFair247 devs · median $599 · 314 announced

All 231 pairs on the Roguelike page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Into the Breach 2018 · $8.5M StarVaders 2025 · $2.8M UNDERDOGS 2024 · $2.5M Wall World 2023 · $2.4M Star Renegades 2020 · $2.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Into the Breach older $14.99 19,000 94% 570k $8.5M (exactly $8,544,300) Subset Games
StarVaders $24.99 3,760 97% 113k $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) Pengonauts
UNDERDOGS older $29.99 2,788 97% 84k $2.5M (exactly $2,508,364) One Hamsa
Wall World older $6.99 11,353 90% 341k $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) Alawar
Star Renegades older $24.99 2,673 82% 80k $2.0M (exactly $2,003,948) Massive Damage, Inc.
R.I.P. - Reincarnation Insurance Program $14.99 2,727 76% 82k $1.2M (exactly $1,226,332) WarmCore Studio
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Metal Unit older $14.99 2,056 82% 62k $925k (exactly $924,583) JellySnow Studio
Oblivion Override older $17.99 1,692 90% 51k $913k (exactly $913,172) Humble Mill
METALLIC CHILD older $24.99 1,131 84% 34k $848k (exactly $847,911) Action Square(STUDIO HG)
TerraTech Legion $9.99 2,109 81% 63k $632k (exactly $632,067) Payload Studios
Wall World 2 $11.99 1,749 73% 52k $629k (exactly $629,115) Alawar
Vital Shell $5.99 1,752 96% 53k $315k (exactly $314,834) MarvinWizard
Battle Suit Aces $19.99 347 90% 10k $208k (exactly $208,096) Trinket Studios
Grit and Valor - 1949 $19.99 274 75% 8.2k $164k (exactly $164,318) Milky Tea Studios
Repel The Rifts · EA $12.99 347 85% 10k $135k (exactly $135,226) RefinedBearGames
Gigantes Ex Machina · EA $14.99 300 84% 9.0k $135k (exactly $134,910) AcrylByte, SEO INSEOK

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