Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Score Attack

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Score Attack Roguelike?

Roguelike + Score Attack

Of 303 developers who shipped a Score Attack 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.. 394 more are announced.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $810, ×1.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×798 the market median. Revenue is down 40% on the market; 394 games are announced against 209 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 40% on the market, 394 announced, ×1.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Score Attack
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 303
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $1.3k → $1.0k → $2.1k → $1.7k → $1.1k → $600 (still earning) → $299 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Score Attack: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 303
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $809 (exactly $809)
Top 25% $7.6k (exactly $7,645)
Top 5% $379k (exactly $379,155)
Developers, 2 yr 303
Released games 548
Announced 394
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 40% on the market, supply 120% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Score Attack
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, Score Attack; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Action, Arcade
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Top-Down
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 224,350 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 $810, 1 in 4 over $7.6k, 1 in 20 over $370k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 101 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 394 games are announced against 209 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Roguelike with a different second tag, 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

Vampire Survivors 2022 · $38M Megabonk 2025 · $30M Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor 2025 · $18M Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M White Knuckle 2025 · EA · $6.8M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Vampire Survivors older $4.99 251,686 98% 7.6M $38M (exactly $37,677,394) poncle
Megabonk $9.99 100,202 94% 3.0M $30M (exactly $30,030,539) vedinad
Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor $12.99 46,354 86% 1.4M $18M (exactly $18,064,154) Funday Games
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
White Knuckle · EA $16.99 13,356 98% 401k $6.8M (exactly $6,807,553) Dark Machine Games
Yet Another Zombie Survivors $14.99 14,123 91% 424k $6.4M (exactly $6,351,113) Awesome Games Studio
The Spell Brigade $12.99 14,731 80% 442k $5.7M (exactly $5,740,671) Bolt Blaster Games
Greedland $12.99 2,919 83% 88k $1.1M (exactly $1,137,534) VaMP He
Temtem: Swarm $12.99 2,487 77% 75k $969k (exactly $969,184) Crema, GGTech Studios
Revita older $16.99 1,734 83% 52k $884k (exactly $883,820) BenStar
Vampire Hunters $14.99 1,941 89% 58k $873k (exactly $872,868) Gamecraft Studios
Glyphica: Typing Survival · EA $9.99 2,488 90% 75k $746k (exactly $745,654) aliasBLACK

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