Games › Roguelike Deckbuilder › Roguelike Deckbuilder + Sci-fi
Should I ship a Sci-fi Roguelike Deckbuilder?
Roguelike Deckbuilder + Sci-fi
Of 35 developers who shipped a Sci-fi Roguelike Deckbuilder 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.. 57 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.0k, ×6.3 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $70k, ×149 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 57 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $360 (exactly $360) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.0k (exactly $2,994) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,142) |
| Top 5% | $71k (exactly $70,848) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 35 |
| Released games | 77 |
| Announced | 57 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 45% on the market, supply 240% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelike Deckbuilder
- effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs
- Sci-fi
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Roguelike Deckbuilder; all of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Deckbuilding, Strategy
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 899 reviews.
What kills games here
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. 57 games are announced against 27 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelike Deckbuilder with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + PhysicsStrong odds
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + DiceFair
- + Tactical RPGFair
- + Perma DeathFair
- + ExplorationFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + MythologyFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + CyberpunkLong shot
- + PvPPoor odds
Comparable games
Griftlands 2021 · $8.1M 
Cobalt Core 2023 · $2.4M 
Deep Sky Derelicts 2018 · $1.2M 
Beneath Oresa 2023 · $841k 
Tower Tactics: Liberation 2023 · $734k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Griftlands | older | $19.99 | 13,440 93% | 403k | $8.1M (exactly $8,059,968) | Klei Entertainment |
| | Cobalt Core | older | $19.99 | 4,067 95% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,438,980) | Rocket Rat Games |
| | Deep Sky Derelicts | older | $19.99 | 1,985 73% | 60k | $1.2M (exactly $1,190,404) | Snowhound Games |
| | Beneath Oresa | older | $24.99 | 1,122 78% | 34k | $841k (exactly $841,163) | Broken Spear Inc. |
| | Tower Tactics: Liberation | older | $19.99 | 1,224 88% | 37k | $734k (exactly $734,033) | asraworks |
 | Mech Armada | older | $19.99 | 653 81% | 20k | $392k (exactly $391,604) | Lioncode Games |
 | Anomaly Collapse | older | $19.99 | 567 85% | 17k | $340k (exactly $340,030) | RocketPunch Games |
 | Nitro Kid | older | $19.99 | 410 89% | 12k | $246k (exactly $245,877) | Wildboy Studios |
 | Zet Zillions | older | $9.99 | 722 87% | 22k | $216k (exactly $216,383) | OTA IMON Studios |
 | For The Warp | older | $14.99 | 434 72% | 13k | $195k (exactly $195,170) | Massive Galaxy Studios |
 | Into The Grid | · EA | $14.99 | 195 83% | 5.9k | $88k (exactly $87,692) | Flatline Studios |
 | Stellar Orphans | $16.99 | 139 71% | 4.2k | $71k (exactly $70,848) | Artifex Parvus | |
 | Hyperspace Deck Command | $19.99 | 91 95% | 2.7k | $55k (exactly $54,573) | Sleeper Games | |
 | Takara Cards | $14.99 | 112 83% | 3.4k | $50k (exactly $50,366) | Post Mortem Pixels | |
 | Guardians of Dao | · EA | $19.99 | 63 74% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | George Financial Holding Ltd. |
 | Command Deck | · EA | $14.99 | 74 98% | 2.2k | $33k (exactly $33,278) | k-critical |
 | Flaregate Network | $14.99 | 58 77% | 1.7k | $26k (exactly $26,083) | Keycard Studio, LLC | |
 | NET.CRAWL | $9.99 | 46 95% | 1.4k | $14k (exactly $13,786) | Everyone is Solid | |
 | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | outpost4 | $3.99 | 94 72% | 2.8k | $11k (exactly $11,252) | BananaDogGames |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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