Games › Programming › Programming + Roguelike
Should I ship a Programming Roguelike?
Programming + Roguelike
Of 20 developers who shipped a Programming 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.. 32 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $7.5k, ×16 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×599 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 32 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.1k (exactly $1,075) |
|---|---|
| Median | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) |
| Top 25% | $129k (exactly $128,756) |
| Top 5% | $284k (exactly $284,462) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 20 |
| Released games | 33 |
| Announced | 32 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 85% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Programming
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Roguelike
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Programming, Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Automation, Simulation
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 3,976 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 6 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 32 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Programming with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Base BuildingFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + RogueliteFair
- + SandboxFair
- + Time ManagementFair
- + AutomationFair
- + Turn-Based TacticsFair
- + SimulationFair
- + RobotsFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Sci-fiFair
- + FuturisticFair
Comparable games
Duskers 2016 · $1.4M 
Uplink 2006 · $637k 
Rogue Voltage 2026 · $284k 
Talented 2024 · $265k 
Tower Networking Inc. 2025 · EA · $190k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Duskers | older | $19.99 | 2,304 90% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,381,709) | Misfits Attic |
| | Uplink | older | $11.99 | 1,771 89% | 53k | $637k (exactly $637,029) | Introversion Software |
| | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
| | Talented | $5.99 | 1,475 91% | 44k | $265k (exactly $265,058) | TurtleFox Games | |
| | Tower Networking Inc. | · EA | $19.99 | 317 95% | 9.5k | $190k (exactly $190,105) | Pocosia Studios |
 | Auto Rogue | $6.99 | 719 91% | 22k | $151k (exactly $150,774) | 定期的な宝物 | |
 | Wireworks | $6.99 | 614 89% | 18k | $129k (exactly $128,756) | JJJ | |
 | Hacky | $4.99 | 95 93% | 2.9k | $14k (exactly $14,222) | Cuddle Code | |
 | NET.CRAWL | $9.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | Everyone is Solid | |
 | IT Startup: Tech Fodder | $9.99 | 31 96% | 930 | $9.3k (exactly $9,291) | Kupilas Media | |
 | Kinetype | · EA | $6.99 | 36 83% | 1.1k | $7.5k (exactly $7,549) | Morlytic |
 | Bioprototype | $4.99 | 50 86% | 1.5k | $7.5k (exactly $7,485) | Emprom Game |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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