Do I ship it?

GamesRoguelikeRoguelike + Time Travel

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Time-Travel Roguelike?

Roguelike + Time Travel

Only 18 developers shipped a Time-Travel 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, Million Depth, 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, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $4.7k, ×9.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×722 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 9.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 28 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Time Travel
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 18
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.1k → $41k → $4.7k → $63k → $26k → $0 (still earning) → $6.3k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Time Travel: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 18
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $4.7k (exactly $4,716)
Top 25% $63k (exactly $63,145)
Top 5% $343k (exactly $343,028)
Developers, 2 yr 18
Released games 41
Announced 28
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 35% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.

Free games: 12%, 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.

Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Time Travel
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Roguelike; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Roguelite
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
Art
8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 3,308 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $4.7k, 1 in 4 over $63k, 1 in 20 over $340k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 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

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Depersonalization older $19.99 6,041 92% 181k $3.6M (exactly $3,622,788) MeowNature
Loop Queen-Escape Dungeon 3 older $19.99 611 84% 18k $366k (exactly $366,417) Hide Games
Million Depth $16.99 673 93% 20k $343k (exactly $343,028) Cyber Space Biotope
Ascend to ZERO $11.99 867 82% 26k $312k (exactly $311,860) Flyway Games, Inc.
Villages & Dungeons $6.99 1,036 91% 31k $217k (exactly $217,249) CaCaFrog Studio
Time Break Chronicles · EA older $14.99 298 88% 8.9k $134k (exactly $134,011) Warrior General Games, LLC
Time Treker $6.99 399 65% 12k $84k (exactly $83,670) Fuse Game
Mist Slayer older $7.99 305 64% 9.2k $73k (exactly $73,108) Moju Games
PROJECT TACHYON $17.99 117 83% 3.5k $63k (exactly $63,145) STUDIO N9
Time Survivors older $4.99 272 61% 8.2k $41k (exactly $40,718) Lunar Chili
Time Snatcher Handy $9.99 88 96% 2.6k $26k (exactly $26,374) PulleyBun, ClockworkCats
BARD'S FAULT $9.99 21 80% 630 $6.3k (exactly $6,294) Sunabi Studios
Panta Rhei - Guardian of Time $9.99 18 94% 540 $5.4k (exactly $5,395) Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic… (Sappalot Studio, Omme Animation, Nordic Scoring)
Miracle Heroes: Temporal Bounty Hunter $1.99 79 92% 2.4k $4.7k (exactly $4,716) Cat Play Studio
Collateral Dungeon $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) Techosaurus Studios

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