Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Twin Stick Shooter Roguelike?

Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter

Of 156 developers who shipped a Twin Stick Shooter 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.. 246 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.8k, ×3.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $250k, ×539 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 246 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.8 times the market baseline, revenue down 60% on the market, 246 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 156
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.8k → $3.1k → $3.4k → $5.4k → $4.2k → $2.2k → $1.7k (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Twin Stick Shooter: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 156
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.8k (exactly $1,786)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,826)
Top 5% $256k (exactly $256,106)
Developers, 2 yr 156
Released games 466
Announced 246
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 down 60% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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
Twin Stick Shooter
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, Twin Stick Shooter; 9 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Action Roguelike, Bullet Hell
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Top-Down, 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 44,413 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.8k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $250k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 86 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 246 games are announced against 74 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

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

Enter the Gungeon 2016 · $36M Soulstone Survivors 2025 · $12M SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising 2018 · $6.1M Nuclear Throne 2015 · $5.4M Rogue: Genesia 2025 · $3.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Enter the Gungeon older $14.99 79,392 95% 2.4M $36M (exactly $35,702,582) Dodge Roll
Soulstone Survivors $14.99 25,749 91% 772k $12M (exactly $11,579,325) Game Smithing Limited
SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising older $19.99 10,111 94% 303k $6.1M (exactly $6,063,567) Flow Fire Games
Nuclear Throne older $11.99 15,047 96% 451k $5.4M (exactly $5,412,406) Vlambeer
Rogue: Genesia $14.99 8,111 90% 243k $3.6M (exactly $3,647,517) Ouadi Huard
Dead Estate older $14.99 5,778 95% 173k $2.6M (exactly $2,598,367) Milkbar Lads
Atomicrops older $14.99 5,134 93% 154k $2.3M (exactly $2,308,760) Bird Bath Games
SYNTHETIK 2 · EA older $19.99 3,202 81% 96k $1.9M (exactly $1,920,239) Flow Fire Games
Star of Providence older $14.99 3,178 96% 95k $1.4M (exactly $1,429,147) Team D-13
ANVIL older $24.99 1,900 61% 57k $1.4M (exactly $1,424,430) ACTION SQUARE
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
NIMRODS · EA $9.99 1,783 85% 53k $534k (exactly $534,365) Fiveamp
Section 13 $19.99 770 70% 23k $462k (exactly $461,769) Ocean Drive Studio, Inc.
Galactic Glitch $12.99 920 89% 28k $359k (exactly $358,524) Crunchy Leaf Games
Crafty Survivors $11.99 712 83% 21k $256k (exactly $256,106) Flannel Bear Games
Morsels $14.99 552 75% 17k $248k (exactly $248,234) Furcula
Genome Guardian 2 · EA $15.99 410 95% 12k $197k (exactly $196,677) Alpherior

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