Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Mystery
Should I ship a Mystery Roguelike?
Roguelike + Mystery
Of 148 developers who shipped a Mystery 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.. 264 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $600, ×1.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×266 the market median. Revenue is up 30% on the market; 264 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $150 (exactly $150) |
|---|---|
| Median | $599 (exactly $599) |
| Top 25% | $4.9k (exactly $4,852) |
| Top 5% | $126k (exactly $126,366) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 148 |
| Released games | 252 |
| Announced | 264 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 30% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Adventure, Strategy
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Atmospheric, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 33,721 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $150. 9 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 264 games are announced against 93 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 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
Blue Prince 2025 · $16M 
WORLD OF HORROR 2023 · $5.4M 
Depersonalization 2024 · $3.6M 
Sol Cesto 2026 · $2.0M 
KLETKA 2026 · $1.9M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Blue Prince | $29.99 | 17,498 85% | 525k | $16M (exactly $15,742,951) | Dogubomb | |
| | WORLD OF HORROR | older | $19.99 | 8,991 89% | 270k | $5.4M (exactly $5,391,903) | panstasz |
| | Depersonalization | older | $19.99 | 6,041 92% | 181k | $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) | MeowNature |
| | Sol Cesto | $13.99 | 4,838 91% | 145k | $2.0M (exactly $2,030,509) | Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospir… (Tambouille, Géraud Zucchini, Chariospirale) | |
| | KLETKA | $9.99 | 6,374 90% | 191k | $1.9M (exactly $1,910,288) | Callback, ln404 | |
 | OTXO | older | $14.99 | 3,303 93% | 99k | $1.5M (exactly $1,485,359) | Lateralis Heavy Industries |
 | ALTF4 | older | $2.99 | 9,452 80% | 284k | $848k (exactly $847,844) | PUMPKIM |
 | Hell Maiden | · EA | $9.99 | 1,834 90% | 55k | $550k (exactly $549,650) | AstralShift |
 | UnderMine 2 | · EA | $19.99 | 828 75% | 25k | $497k (exactly $496,552) | Thorium |
 | Iris and the Giant | older | $17.99 | 698 87% | 21k | $377k (exactly $376,711) | Louis Rigaud |
 | NO-SKIN | $6.99 | 1,227 95% | 37k | $257k (exactly $257,302) | NoEye-Soft | |
 | Bendy: Lone Wolf | $19.99 | 259 77% | 7.8k | $155k (exactly $155,322) | Joey Drew Studios | |
 | Deified | · EA | $14.99 | 281 96% | 8.4k | $126k (exactly $126,366) | Unexpected |
 | Kromlech | · EA | $29.99 | 136 65% | 4.1k | $122k (exactly $122,359) | Perun Creative |
 | Eternal Afternoon | $8.99 | 446 95% | 13k | $120k (exactly $120,286) | Alex Klexber |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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