Games › Trading › Trading + Roguelite
Should I ship a Trading Roguelite?
Trading + Roguelite
Only 16 developers shipped a Trading Roguelite in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Apocalypse: The Last RV, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 51 more are announced, ×3.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $750, ×1.6 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $23k, ×50 the market median. Revenue is up 40% on the market; 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $300 (exactly $300) |
|---|---|
| Median | $748 (exactly $748) |
| Top 25% | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) |
| Top 5% | $24k (exactly $23,802) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 35 |
| Announced | 51 |
| 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 up 40% on the market, supply 335% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Trading, Roguelite
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 231 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 51 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + MiningFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + MMORPGPoor odds
- + Character CustomizationPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + FlightPoor odds
- + SportsPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + PhysicsPoor odds
- + DrivingPoor odds
- + LootPoor odds
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Star Traders: Frontiers | older | $14.99 | 3,672 83% | 110k | $1.7M (exactly $1,651,298) | Trese Brothers |
| | Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator | older | $19.99 | 827 92% | 25k | $496k (exactly $495,952) | Strange Scaffold |
| | Mad Smartphone Tycoon | older | $11.99 | 577 71% | 17k | $208k (exactly $207,547) | Miradil |
| | Transcendence | older | $14.99 | 214 88% | 6.4k | $96k (exactly $96,236) | Kronosaur Productions |
| | Trapper: Drug Dealing RPG | · EA older | $19.99 | 102 88% | 3.1k | $61k (exactly $61,169) | Lathon Gaming |
| | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
| | Bootleg Steamer | older | $14.99 | 23 73% | 690 | $10k (exactly $10,343) | Team Junkfish |
| | Shop-Like - The Rogue-Like Item Shop Experience | older | $7.99 | 37 75% | 1.1k | $8.9k (exactly $8,869) | Rand.Exe Studios |
| | Maritime Calling | older | $7.99 | 31 51% | 930 | $7.4k (exactly $7,431) | Tiamat Games |
| | King's Subsidy | $11.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) | Marcin Henzel | |
| | Commander Bug Wars | $9.99 | 18 83% | 540 | $5.4k (exactly $5,395) | GoldenGod Games | |
| | 白影酒馆 Tavern Revisited | $9.99 | 11 63% | 330 | $3.3k (exactly $3,297) | Stray Dog Game Studio | |
| | Soulreign | $7.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $2.9k (exactly $2,876) | Berraco | |
| | The Art Collector | $12.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $779 (exactly $779) | Shyborg Games | |
| | Seed 2313 | $4.99 | 5 80% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | DaShanGames | |
| | Void Roots | $4.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $748 (exactly $748) | Peon's Lair | |
| | Second Chance at a Billion | $10.00 | 2 50% | 60 | $600 (exactly $600) | ElderYew | |
| | GuildMestar | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | OffPath LLC |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.