Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Runner

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Runner Roguelite?

Roguelite + Runner

Of 45 developers who shipped a Runner Roguelite 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.. 50 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $90 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 25 developers shipped in the last year and 50 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 25% on the market, 50 announced, ×2.0 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelite + Runner
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 45
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $449 → $599 → $1.1k → $449 → $60 → $90 → $899 (still earning) → $0 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelite + Runner: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 45
Bottom 30% $30 (exactly $30)
Median $90 (exactly $90)
Top 25% $899 (exactly $899)
Top 5% $40k (exactly $39,734)
Developers, 2 yr 45
Released games 99
Announced 50
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Roguelite
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Runner
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
Roguelite, Runner; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Arcade, Platformer
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric, Cute
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 14,069 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $50, median $90, 1 in 4 over $890, 1 in 20 over $39k.

3 in 10 developers made under $50. 9 in 10 of the 23 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 50 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Real-TimeFair11 devs · median $11k · 14 announced
  2. + ProgrammingFair24 devs · median $9.3k · 28 announced
  3. + VampiresFair60 devs · median $4.8k · 62 announced
  4. + TypingFair29 devs · median $2.4k · 34 announced
  5. + Grand StrategyFair21 devs · median $2.0k · 23 announced
  6. + IdlerFair166 devs · median $1.5k · 235 announced
  7. + DogsFair30 devs · median $1.3k · 22 announced
  8. + Walking SimulatorFair23 devs · median $1.1k · 23 announced
  9. + Score AttackFair344 devs · median $719 · 450 announced
  10. + Point & ClickFair94 devs · median $600 · 121 announced
  11. + LogicFair144 devs · median $599 · 143 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds21 devs · median $74k · 24 announced

All 229 pairs on the Roguelite page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Haste 2025 · $7.6M Phantom Abyss 2024 · $1.2M ODDCORE 2026 · EA · $421k Trip to Vinelands 2016 · $235k I Hate Running Backwards 2018 · $85k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Haste $19.99 12,690 92% 381k $7.6M (exactly $7,610,193) Landfall
Phantom Abyss older $19.99 1,962 81% 59k $1.2M (exactly $1,176,611) Team WIBY
ODDCORE · EA $12.99 1,080 96% 32k $421k (exactly $420,876) ODDCORP
Trip to Vinelands older $4.99 1,572 85% 47k $235k (exactly $235,328) Walter Machado
I Hate Running Backwards older $14.99 188 71% 5.6k $85k (exactly $84,544) Binx Games, Croteam Incubator, Croteam
Switchcars older $8.99 164 90% 4.9k $44k (exactly $44,231) Altfuture
Fresh Tracks $24.99 53 94% 1.6k $40k (exactly $39,734) Buffalo Buffalo
绝命游歌 older $6.99 159 82% 4.8k $33k (exactly $33,342) DreamStep, Wild Kid Games
This Is No Cave $6.99 127 96% 3.8k $27k (exactly $26,632) monome.studio
SpeedOverflow older $4.99 116 72% 3.5k $17k (exactly $17,365) 狼烟
Inflafrog: Collector's Edition $4.99 28 100% 840 $4.2k (exactly $4,192) Nice Cream
Swamp Up $4.99 18 100% 540 $2.7k (exactly $2,695) Torress Studios
Dino-Ducks Dash $2.99 30 96% 900 $2.7k (exactly $2,691) Duckosaurus Games
Condemned to Clean $5.99 13 76% 390 $2.3k (exactly $2,336) KOMA
GUN.DOG.REVENGE $4.00 18 100% 540 $2.2k (exactly $2,160) MEWSTURBO
Rogue Runner $5.99 12 91% 360 $2.2k (exactly $2,156) 42nd Machine

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