Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Nature

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Nature Roguelike?

Roguelike + Nature

Of 126 developers who shipped a Nature 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.. 193 more are announced, ×2.3 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 $180; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×290 the market median. Revenue is down 10% on the market; 193 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 193 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Nature
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 126
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $898 → $748 → $719 → $1.5k → $599 (still earning) → $180 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Nature: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 126
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $2.7k (exactly $2,695)
Top 5% $138k (exactly $137,515)
Developers, 2 yr 126
Released games 219
Announced 193
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 down 10% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 10%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Nature
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Roguelike; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Strategy, Action
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 19,522 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $600, 1 in 4 over $2.6k, 1 in 20 over $130k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 9 in 10 of the 51 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 193 games are announced against 84 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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

The Wandering Village 2025 · $7.0M Niche - a genetics survival game 2017 · $2.4M Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite 2026 · $2.1M Bootstrap Island 2026 · $1.0M Ravenbound 2023 · $693k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
The Wandering Village $29.99 7,734 91% 232k $7.0M (exactly $6,958,280) Stray Fawn Studio
Niche - a genetics survival game older $17.99 4,356 88% 131k $2.4M (exactly $2,350,933) Stray Fawn Studio
Everything is Crab: The Animal Evolution Roguelite $9.99 6,876 76% 206k $2.1M (exactly $2,060,737) Odd Dreams Digital
Bootstrap Island $24.99 1,362 81% 41k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,091) Maru VR
Ravenbound older $29.99 770 53% 23k $693k (exactly $692,769) Systemic Reaction™
Insurmountable older $24.99 832 78% 25k $624k (exactly $623,750) ByteRockers' Games
Coal LLC $14.99 1,343 92% 40k $604k (exactly $603,947) Bye Bye Ocean
Primordialis · EA $19.99 974 93% 29k $584k (exactly $584,108) Kyler Natividad, Keith Sammut
UnReal World older $14.50 1,224 93% 37k $532k (exactly $532,440) Sami Maaranen (creator), Erkka Lehmus (… (Sami Maaranen (creator), Erkka Lehmus (co-designer))
Zoominoes $14.99 549 91% 16k $247k (exactly $246,885) Starlight Games inc.
Hive Blight · EA $12.49 367 94% 11k $138k (exactly $137,515) OptizOnion
Super Cabbage Kabumi $14.99 125 67% 3.8k $56k (exactly $56,212) Vividesca Games
Chrysalis $9.99 118 84% 3.5k $35k (exactly $35,365) Metamorph Games
Rogue Labyrinth $14.99 74 98% 2.2k $33k (exactly $33,278) Tea Witch Games

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