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Should I ship a Word Game Roguelike?
Roguelike + Word Game
Of 39 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 56 more are announced, ×2.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $4.2k, ×8.8 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1565 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 56 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) |
|---|---|
| Median | $4.2k (exactly $4,196) |
| Top 25% | $24k (exactly $23,970) |
| Top 5% | $743k (exactly $743,405) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 39 |
| Released games | 59 |
| Announced | 56 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 75% on the market, supply 45% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelike, Word Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Roguelite, Strategy
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, Text-Based
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 7,404 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 7 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 56 games are announced against 23 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.4 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
Glyphica: Typing Survival 2024 · EA · $746k 
Pronoun Palace 2026 · $743k 
Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't 2026 · $314k 
Word Play 2025 · $242k 
Wordatro! 2025 · $120k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Glyphica: Typing Survival | · EA | $9.99 | 2,488 90% | 75k | $746k (exactly $745,654) | aliasBLACK |
| | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler | |
| | Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't | $14.99 | 698 95% | 21k | $314k (exactly $313,891) | Buried Things | |
| | Word Play | $7.99 | 1,010 89% | 30k | $242k (exactly $242,097) | Game Maker's Toolkit | |
| | Wordatro! | $9.99 | 401 85% | 12k | $120k (exactly $120,180) | Le Poulet | |
 | 挂机神话 | older | $1.99 | 1,693 90% | 51k | $101k (exactly $101,072) | 狮子 |
 | 小小侠客模拟器 | $2.99 | 1,103 86% | 33k | $99k (exactly $98,939) | 小小游戏 | |
 | スペルトナエル | older | $8.99 | 344 97% | 10k | $93k (exactly $92,777) | おまど |
 | Beyond Words | $14.99 | 102 84% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | MindFuel Games | |
 | Гвалт | $7.99 | 151 93% | 4.5k | $36k (exactly $36,195) | maxter | |
 | TypInc. | $9.99 | 102 74% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,569) | Game Game Games | |
 | Tomb of the Bloodletter | $7.99 | 100 88% | 3.0k | $24k (exactly $23,970) | Ethan's Secretions |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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