Do I ship it?

GamesRoguelikeRoguelike + Typing

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Typing Roguelike?

Roguelike + Typing

Of 28 developers who shipped a Typing 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.. 38 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.5k, ×5.4 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $240k, ×510 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 38 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 38 announced, ×2.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike + Typing
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 28
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $5.4k → $2.4k → $1.8k (still earning) → $4.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike + Typing: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 28
Bottom 30% $539 (exactly $539)
Median $2.5k (exactly $2,545)
Top 25% $23k (exactly $22,777)
Top 5% $242k (exactly $242,097)
Developers, 2 yr 28
Released games 41
Announced 38
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $7.99

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 15% on the market, supply 80% more developers than 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Roguelike
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Typing
effort 1 / 10 · high · keyboard input against a word list

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Roguelike, Typing; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Word Game, Deckbuilding, Score Attack
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Text-Based, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 88% positive over 4,625 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $540, median $2.5k, 1 in 4 over $22k, 1 in 20 over $240k.

3 in 10 developers made under $540. 8 in 10 of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 18 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 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

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
Glyphica: Typing Survival · EA $9.99 2,488 90% 75k $746k (exactly $745,654) aliasBLACK
Uplink older $11.99 1,771 89% 53k $637k (exactly $637,029) Introversion Software
Word Play $7.99 1,010 89% 30k $242k (exactly $242,097) Game Maker's Toolkit
Dyping Escape $9.99 544 91% 16k $163k (exactly $163,037) Heaviside Creations
Гвалт $7.99 151 93% 4.5k $36k (exactly $36,195) maxter
Typing Break $8.99 96 80% 2.9k $26k (exactly $25,891) Tholus
Tomb of the Bloodletter $7.99 100 88% 3.0k $24k (exactly $23,970) Ethan's Secretions
The Carcass $9.99 76 26% 2.3k $23k (exactly $22,777) PiqFocus Interactive
Hacky $4.99 95 93% 2.9k $14k (exactly $14,222) Cuddle Code
Type or Die $13.99 29 31% 870 $12k (exactly $12,171) Type or Die
Kinetype · EA $6.99 36 83% 1.1k $7.5k (exactly $7,549) Morlytic

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