Games › Mining › Mining + Roguelike
Should I ship a Mining Roguelike?
Mining + Roguelike
Of 53 developers who shipped a Mining 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.. 94 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 $4.2k, ×8.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×1045 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 94 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $898 (exactly $898) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.2k (exactly $4,192) |
| Top 25% | $42k (exactly $41,895) |
| Top 5% | $497k (exactly $496,552) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 53 |
| Released games | 88 |
| Announced | 94 |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 3%, 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
- Mining, Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Strategy
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 8,939 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $900. 6 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 94 games are announced against 36 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.6 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mining with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FarmingStrong odds
- + TradingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Tower DefenseFair
- + EconomyFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based StrategyFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + NatureFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + CollectathonFair
Comparable games
UnderMine 2020 · $5.6M 
Wall World 2023 · $2.4M 
(the) Gnorp Apologue 2023 · $2.0M 
KeeperRL 2024 · $1.0M 
Wall World 2 2025 · $629k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | UnderMine | older | $19.99 | 9,284 90% | 279k | $5.6M (exactly $5,567,615) | Thorium |
| | Wall World | older | $6.99 | 11,353 90% | 341k | $2.4M (exactly $2,380,724) | Alawar |
| | (the) Gnorp Apologue | older | $6.99 | 9,613 94% | 288k | $2.0M (exactly $2,015,846) | Myco |
| | KeeperRL | older | $19.99 | 1,677 83% | 50k | $1.0M (exactly $1,005,697) | Electric Succubi |
| | Wall World 2 | $11.99 | 1,749 73% | 52k | $629k (exactly $629,115) | Alawar | |
 | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
 | UnderMine 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 828 75% | 25k | $497k (exactly $496,552) | Thorium |
 | Epic Auto Towers | · EA | $14.99 | 768 70% | 23k | $345k (exactly $345,370) | Aleksandr Golovkin |
 | Galactic Mining Corp | older | $12.99 | 868 84% | 26k | $338k (exactly $338,260) | Windybeard |
 | Swarm Grinder | older | $7.99 | 1,163 76% | 35k | $279k (exactly $278,771) | Last Bite Games |
 | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games | |
 | Stonewards | · EA | $9.99 | 806 94% | 24k | $242k (exactly $241,558) | Banana Tiger Studio |
 | FROGGY HATES SNOW | $14.99 | 456 91% | 14k | $205k (exactly $205,063) | CRYING BRICK | |
 | Zad Archery | $6.99 | 803 73% | 24k | $168k (exactly $168,389) | Samharia Studios | |
 | You Know The Drill | $4.99 | 1,022 92% | 31k | $153k (exactly $152,993) | ludokai | |
 | Hold The Mine | · EA | $14.99 | 338 83% | 10k | $152k (exactly $151,999) | Hookaria Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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