Games › Roguelike › Roguelike + Visual Novel
Should I ship a Visual Novel Roguelike?
Roguelike + Visual Novel
Of 58 developers who shipped a Visual Novel 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.. 66 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 $6.9k, ×15 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $300k, ×648 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 66 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.9k (exactly $6,893) |
| Top 25% | $32k (exactly $31,784) |
| Top 5% | $308k (exactly $307,646) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 58 |
| Released games | 138 |
| Announced | 66 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $8.40 |
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 80% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 8%, excluded from money figures.
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
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelike, Visual Novel; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelite, Turn-Based Tactics, RPG
- Price point
- $8.40 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.40.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 12,110 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 5 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 66 games are announced against 32 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + JRPGFair
- + 6DOFFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + VampiresFair
- + DogsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SuperheroFair
- + IdlerFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + 2D PlatformerFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
Comparable games
Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation 2018 · $39M 
StarVaders 2025 · $2.8M 
Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- 2018 · $1.8M 
Nunholy 2025 · $1.2M 
Max Gentlemen Sexy Business! 2020 · $895k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation | older | $24.99 | 52,522 94% | 1.6M | $39M (exactly $39,375,743) | ProjectMoon |
| | StarVaders | $24.99 | 3,760 97% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) | Pengonauts | |
| | Touhou Genso Wanderer -Reloaded- | older | $34.99 | 1,734 93% | 52k | $1.8M (exactly $1,820,180) | AQUASTYLE |
| | Nunholy | $7.99 | 5,150 88% | 155k | $1.2M (exactly $1,234,455) | Chowbie | |
| | Max Gentlemen Sexy Business! | older | $19.99 | 1,492 92% | 45k | $895k (exactly $894,752) | The Men Who Wear Many Hats |
 | Resist the succubus—The end of the female Knight | older | $16.99 | 1,370 74% | 41k | $698k (exactly $698,289) | BoRoBoRoGame |
 | Omega Labyrinth Life | older | $59.99 | 263 64% | 7.9k | $473k (exactly $473,321) | Matrix |
 | Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate | older | $39.99 | 329 43% | 9.9k | $395k (exactly $394,701) | MAGES. Inc. |
 | Heading Out | older | $19.99 | 639 74% | 19k | $383k (exactly $383,208) | Serious Sim, Crunching Koalas |
 | Space Warlord Baby Trading Simulator | $19.99 | 513 91% | 15k | $308k (exactly $307,646) | Strange Scaffold | |
 | Shambles: Sons of Apocalypse | $19.99 | 340 77% | 10k | $204k (exactly $203,898) | EXLIX | |
 | Menherarium: Deadly Dice | $8.99 | 669 92% | 20k | $180k (exactly $180,429) | テスカトリポカ | |
 | 桃色武林 | $9.99 | 504 78% | 15k | $151k (exactly $151,049) | 人型ですカオス | |
 | Rina's Undercover Train Operation | $13.99 | 286 70% | 8.6k | $120k (exactly $120,034) | Metamorphose | |
 | Married Into Hell | $11.99 | 265 80% | 8.0k | $95k (exactly $95,320) | WorkNite Games | |
 | Find the Demon 恶魔鉴定守则 | $7.99 | 346 89% | 10k | $83k (exactly $82,936) | SHAKINO_UNION | |
 | Sexorcism: Lust Confession | $7.99 | 277 70% | 8.3k | $66k (exactly $66,397) | Kinky Business Group |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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