Do I ship it?

GamesRogueliteRoguelite + Naval

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Naval Roguelite?

Roguelite + Naval

Only 19 developers shipped a Naval Roguelite 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.. 28 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 $420, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270. 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper, while revenue is up 200% on the market.

Deciding numbers: median 0.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 200% on the market, 28 announced, ×2.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelite + Naval
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $269 → $15k → $2.7k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelite + Naval: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $269 (exactly $269)
Median $419 (exactly $419)
Top 25% $15k (exactly $14,748)
Top 5% $859k (exactly $859,214)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 32
Announced 28
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 200% on the market, supply 70% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 13%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Naval
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Roguelite; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Tactical
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $29.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $29.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 78% positive over 1,383 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $270, median $420, 1 in 4 over $14k, 1 in 20 over $850k.

3 in 10 developers made under $270. 9 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Roguelite with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-TimeFair11 devs · median $11k · 14 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  3. + VampiresFair60 devs · median $4.8k · 62 announced
  4. + TypingFair29 devs · median $2.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Grand StrategyFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  6. + IdlerFair166 devs · median $1.5k · 235 announced
  7. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.3k · 22 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair23 devs · median $1.1k · 23 announced
  9. + Score AttackFair344 devs · median $719 · 450 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair94 devs · median $600 · 121 announced
  11. + LogicFair144 devs · median $599 · 143 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds21 devs · median $74k · 24 announced

All 229 pairs on the Roguelite page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

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
MORSE $13.99 124 93% 3.7k $52k (exactly $52,043) ALJO Games
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
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
Kamikaze Survivors $9.99 9 77% 270 $2.7k (exactly $2,697) DaboSoft
Pirate Twist · EA $4.67 5 100% 150 $700 (exactly $700) BTG Labs
Hullbreaker · EA $6.99 2 100% 60 $419 (exactly $419) Dalton

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