Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelike Deckbuilder › Roguelike Deckbuilder + Tower Defense

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Roguelike Deckbuilder Tower Defense?

Roguelike Deckbuilder + Tower Defense

Of 25 developers who shipped a Roguelike Deckbuilder Tower Defense 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, ×3.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $11k, ×24 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $4.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×772 the market median. Revenue is down 25% on the market; 38 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 23.7 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 38 announced, ×3.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelike Deckbuilder + Tower Defense
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 25
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.3k → $46k → $23k → $17k → $38k → $9.4k (still earning) → $11k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelike Deckbuilder + Tower Defense: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 25
Bottom 30% $4.5k (exactly $4,496)
Median $11k (exactly $11,252)
Top 25% $83k (exactly $83,317)
Top 5% $367k (exactly $366,708)
Developers, 2 yr 25
Released games 47
Announced 38
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
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 25% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.

Free games: 6%, 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 Deckbuilder
effort 3 / 10 · high · deckbuilding rules plus procedural runs
Tower Defense
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Roguelike Deckbuilder, Tower Defense; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Card Game
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,854 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $4.5k, median $11k, 1 in 4 over $83k, 1 in 20 over $360k.

3 in 10 developers made under $4.5k. 6 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 38 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Roguelike Deckbuilder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + PhysicsStrong odds31 devs · median $8.1k · 30 announced
  2. + Inventory ManagementFair43 devs · median $12k · 47 announced
  3. + DiceFair36 devs · median $9.6k · 53 announced
  4. + Tactical RPGFair24 devs · median $9.0k · 29 announced
  5. + Perma DeathFair65 devs · median $8.1k · 66 announced
  6. + ExplorationFair22 devs · median $8.1k · 26 announced
  7. + Female ProtagonistFair35 devs · median $7.8k · 50 announced
  8. + MythologyFair22 devs · median $6.9k · 25 announced
  9. + ArcadeFair59 devs · median $4.3k · 88 announced
  10. + PuzzleFair40 devs · median $3.6k · 54 announced
  11. + CyberpunkLong shot17 devs · median $179 · 20 announced
  12. + PvPPoor odds17 devs · median $56k · 42 announced

All 60 pairs on the Roguelike Deckbuilder page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M Emberward 2026 · $2.3M Overdungeon 2019 · $1.3M Heretic's Fork 2023 · $928k Tower Tactics: Liberation 2023 · $734k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Ratropolis older $17.99 5,187 87% 156k $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) Cassel Games
Emberward $19.99 3,775 96% 113k $2.3M (exactly $2,263,868) Refic Games
Overdungeon older $14.99 2,854 79% 86k $1.3M (exactly $1,283,444) Pocketpair
Heretic's Fork older $9.99 3,097 85% 93k $928k (exactly $928,171) 9FingerGames
Tower Tactics: Liberation older $19.99 1,224 88% 37k $734k (exactly $734,033) asraworks
ORX · EA older $19.99 636 68% 19k $381k (exactly $381,409) johnbell
Cubic Cosmos $12.99 941 92% 28k $367k (exactly $366,708) Inkstone Atelier
Epic Auto Towers · EA $14.99 768 70% 23k $345k (exactly $345,370) Aleksandr Golovkin
Cube Chaos $11.99 621 95% 19k $223k (exactly $223,374) Wunarg
Kingdom's Deck $9.99 495 72% 15k $148k (exactly $148,352) Ivan Aco
Wireworks $6.99 614 89% 18k $129k (exactly $128,756) JJJ
Forest Heroes $9.99 278 83% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hoochoo Game Studios
These Doomed Isles $14.99 180 66% 5.4k $81k (exactly $80,946) Triplevision Games Limited
Aurora Defense · EA $12.99 98 60% 2.9k $38k (exactly $38,191) Moka Games
Maze Keeper $8.99 84 47% 2.5k $23k (exactly $22,655) Spaceward Games

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