Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical RPG › Tactical RPG + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Deckbuilder Tactical RPG?

Tactical RPG + Roguelike Deckbuilder

Of 24 developers who shipped a Roguelike Deckbuilder Tactical RPG 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.. 29 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $9.0k, ×14 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $3.2k. Revenue is up 185% on the market; 29 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 14.3 times the market baseline, revenue up 185% on the market, 29 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical RPG + Roguelike Deckbuilder
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $78k → $31k → $25k → $41k → $3.6k (still earning) → $53k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical RPG + Roguelike Deckbuilder: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $3.1k (exactly $3,148)
Median $9.0k (exactly $8,996)
Top 25% $53k (exactly $53,302)
Top 5% $191k (exactly $191,122)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 45
Announced 29
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $13.99

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 up 185% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 4%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Tactical RPG
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Roguelike Deckbuilder
effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Tactical RPG, Roguelike Deckbuilder; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Roguelike
Price point
$13.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $13.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,961 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $3.2k, median $9.0k, 1 in 4 over $53k, 1 in 20 over $190k.

3 in 10 developers made under $3.2k. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 29 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Tactical RPG with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Mystery DungeonFair30 devs · median $2.4k · 24 announced
  2. + Space SimFair9 devs · median $1.8k · 15 announced
  3. + Point & ClickFair21 devs · median $839 · 26 announced
  4. + 2D PlatformerFair58 devs · median $599 · 49 announced
  5. + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds10 devs · median $63k · 16 announced
  6. + Colony SimPoor odds16 devs · median $41k · 29 announced
  7. + SandboxPoor odds42 devs · median $20k · 102 announced
  8. + Turn-BasedPoor odds61 devs · median $18k · 81 announced
  9. + RobotsPoor odds15 devs · median $17k · 27 announced
  10. + RomancePoor odds23 devs · median $10k · 38 announced
  11. + WarPoor odds80 devs · median $8.7k · 143 announced
  12. + Life SimPoor odds16 devs · median $7.7k · 26 announced

All 145 pairs on the Tactical RPG page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Across the Obelisk 2022 · $6.4M Shogun Showdown 2024 · $2.8M Cobalt Core 2023 · $2.4M Trials of Fire 2021 · $1.8M Warriors of the Nile 2 2022 · $531k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Across the Obelisk older $19.99 10,689 80% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) Dreamsite Games
Shogun Showdown older $14.99 6,197 95% 186k $2.8M (exactly $2,786,791) Roboatino
Cobalt Core older $19.99 4,067 95% 122k $2.4M (exactly $2,438,980) Rocket Rat Games
Trials of Fire older $19.99 2,975 86% 89k $1.8M (exactly $1,784,107) Whatboy Games
Warriors of the Nile 2 older $14.99 1,180 88% 35k $531k (exactly $530,646) Stove Studio
Vivid World $19.99 591 88% 18k $354k (exactly $354,423) Asobism.Co.,Ltd
DungeonTop older $15.99 452 80% 14k $217k (exactly $216,824) One Up Plus Entertainment
The Royal Writ $14.99 425 80% 13k $191k (exactly $191,122) Save Sloth Studios
Theseus Protocol older $9.99 317 65% 9.5k $95k (exactly $95,005) YueTang(Xiamen)
C.A.R.D.S. RPG: The Misty Battlefield older $39.99 76 47% 2.3k $91k (exactly $91,177) ACQUIRE Corp.
Golden Swirl $19.99 149 92% 4.5k $89k (exactly $89,355) Snako Production
Conquest Tactics : Realm of Sin $14.99 162 69% 4.9k $73k (exactly $72,851) Singular Sunshine Studios
Deck of Souls $11.99 153 84% 4.6k $55k (exactly $55,034) Bigboot Studios
Re:Night $13.99 127 88% 3.8k $53k (exactly $53,302) Seahorse Games
Voice of Belldona · EA $11.99 117 72% 3.5k $42k (exactly $42,085) StoryCropStudio
Lords of Ravage $9.99 138 66% 4.1k $41k (exactly $41,359) Synthetic Domain
WizardChess $14.99 56 83% 1.7k $25k (exactly $25,183) TwoPM Studios
Ashes of Morgravia $11.99 43 67% 1.3k $15k (exactly $15,467) background blur.

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