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Should I ship a Mystery Dungeon Roguelite?
Mystery Dungeon + Roguelite
Of 87 developers who shipped a Mystery Dungeon Roguelite 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.. 121 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.5k, ×3.2 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $270k, ×577 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 121 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.5k (exactly $1,497) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,793) |
| Top 5% | $274k (exactly $273,867) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 87 |
| Released games | 218 |
| Announced | 121 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 35% on the market, supply 80% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Mystery Dungeon
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Roguelite
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Mystery Dungeon, Roguelite; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Dungeon Crawler, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cute, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 73% positive over 5,954 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 9 in 10 of the 35 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 121 games are announced against 56 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Mystery Dungeon with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGStrong odds
- + TacticalStrong odds
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RomanceFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + SimulationFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + HistoricalFair
- + PhysicsFair
Comparable games
ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition 2023 · $1.3M 
Boyfriend Dungeon 2021 · $1.3M 
Escape Dungeon 2 2022 · $917k 
Vivid Knight 2021 · $735k 
The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith 2025 · $590k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | ENDLESS Dungeon™ - Definitive Edition | older | $14.99 | 2,953 64% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,327,964) | AMPLITUDE Studios |
| | Boyfriend Dungeon | older | $19.99 | 2,105 91% | 63k | $1.3M (exactly $1,262,368) | Kitfox Games |
| | Escape Dungeon 2 | older | $17.99 | 1,700 93% | 51k | $917k (exactly $917,490) | Hide Games |
| | Vivid Knight | older | $14.99 | 1,635 89% | 49k | $735k (exactly $735,260) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd |
| | The Shimmering Horizon and Cursed Blacksmith | $19.99 | 983 58% | 29k | $590k (exactly $589,505) | Ason | |
 | Rustil: Eternal Labyrinth Castle | $18.99 | 950 71% | 29k | $541k (exactly $541,215) | KTMG LLC. | |
 | Dungeon Drafters | older | $24.99 | 563 76% | 17k | $422k (exactly $422,081) | Manalith Studios |
 | Skull Horde | $12.99 | 1,083 81% | 32k | $422k (exactly $422,045) | 8BitSkull | |
 | One Way Heroics | older | $3.49 | 3,503 94% | 105k | $367k (exactly $366,764) | Smoking WOLF |
 | Vivid World | $19.99 | 591 88% | 18k | $354k (exactly $354,423) | Asobism.Co.,Ltd | |
 | Guidus Zero | $14.99 | 609 75% | 18k | $274k (exactly $273,867) | izzle | |
 | Goblin Dungeons | $17.99 | 291 83% | 8.7k | $157k (exactly $157,053) | Loolust | |
 | Legacy of Defense | $7.99 | 545 72% | 16k | $131k (exactly $130,636) | Enter the Game Studios | |
 | Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- | $24.99 | 160 49% | 4.8k | $120k (exactly $119,952) | Square Enix | |
 | Touhou ~Red Empress Devil. | $8.99 | 438 70% | 13k | $118k (exactly $118,129) | STUDIO POCO | |
 | Slot & Dungeons | $8.99 | 304 83% | 9.1k | $82k (exactly $81,989) | MUC GAMES |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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