Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Naval
Should I ship a Naval Roguelike?
Roguelike + Naval
Only 15 developers shipped a Naval Roguelike in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Rogue Waters, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 18 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $700, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $850k, ×1368 the market median. Revenue is up 1440% on the market; 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year.
not enough cohorts to draw
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $700 (exactly $700) |
| Top 25% | $15k (exactly $14,748) |
| Top 5% | $859k (exactly $859,214) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 15 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 18 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| 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 1440% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, 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
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Roguelike
- Price point
- $5.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 77% positive over 1,275 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 18 games are announced against 8 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 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
SUNLESS SEA 2015 · $4.3M 
Ship of Fools 2022 · $3.3M 
Pixel Piracy 2014 · $2.6M 
Abandon Ship 2019 · $863k 
Rogue Waters 2024 · $859k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | SUNLESS SEA | older | $18.99 | 7,625 83% | 229k | $4.3M (exactly $4,343,962) | Failbetter Games |
| | Ship of Fools | older | $21.99 | 5,040 82% | 151k | $3.3M (exactly $3,324,888) | Fika Productions |
| | Pixel Piracy | older | $14.99 | 5,713 65% | 171k | $2.6M (exactly $2,569,136) | Vitali Kirpu |
| | Abandon Ship | older | $24.99 | 1,151 71% | 35k | $863k (exactly $862,905) | Fireblade Software |
| | Rogue Waters | $29.99 | 955 75% | 29k | $859k (exactly $859,214) | Ice Code Games | |
 | The Caribbean Sail | older | $14.99 | 503 93% | 15k | $226k (exactly $226,199) | Victorian Clambake |
 | Cursed Crew | · EA older | $20.00 | 70 80% | 2.1k | $42k (exactly $42,000) | Cracklewock Games |
 | Curse of Pirates | $9.99 | 121 80% | 3.6k | $36k (exactly $36,264) | Funky Parrot | |
 | Her Majesty's Ship | older | $9.99 | 96 44% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $28,771) | Every Single Soldier, Wastelands Intera… (Every Single Soldier, Wastelands Interactive) |
 | Dread Admiral | $13.99 | 59 89% | 1.8k | $25k (exactly $24,762) | Tescrin Games | |
 | Reclaim The Sea | $11.99 | 41 75% | 1.2k | $15k (exactly $14,748) | 1LastGame | |
 | Fluffy Sailors | $12.99 | 29 79% | 870 | $11k (exactly $11,301) | Skaldery Games | |
 | Ocean Survivors | $3.49 | 38 97% | 1.1k | $4.0k (exactly $3,979) | Aremji Games | |
 | Hentai Pirates Survivors | $4.99 | 24 91% | 720 | $3.6k (exactly $3,593) | Pinky Pads | |
 | Pirate Twist | · EA | $4.67 | 5 100% | 150 | $700 (exactly $700) | BTG Labs |
 | Hullbreaker | · EA | $6.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $419 (exactly $419) | Dalton |
 | DEEP DIVER | · EA | $9.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $300 (exactly $300) | PEGAX Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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