Do I ship it?

Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Roguelite?

Roguelite + Traditional Roguelike

Of 117 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike 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.. 139 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $480 in the last 2 years and $480 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 91 developers shipped in the last year and 139 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 15% on the market, 139 announced, ×1.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Roguelite + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 117
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $657 → $449 → $239 → $2.3k → $1.1k → $539 → $449 (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Roguelite + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 117
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $479 (exactly $479)
Top 25% $3.6k (exactly $3,596)
Top 5% $120k (exactly $119,952)
Developers, 2 yr 117
Released games 207
Announced 139
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $4.99

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 15% on the market, supply 235% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 9%, 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
Traditional Roguelike
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, Traditional Roguelike; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, RPG
Price point
$4.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $4.99.

The top 10 games average 80% positive over 3,693 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $480, 1 in 4 over $3.5k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 31 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 139 games are announced against 91 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

ZED ZONE 2023 · EA · $1.3M Lost in Random: The Eternal Die 2025 · $573k Desktop Dungeons 2023 · $510k One Way Heroics 2014 · $367k Fate Seeker: Journey 2022 · $332k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ZED ZONE · EA older $11.99 3,506 81% 105k $1.3M (exactly $1,261,108) Leven Liu
Lost in Random: The Eternal Die $24.99 764 84% 23k $573k (exactly $572,771) Stormteller Games
Desktop Dungeons older $14.99 1,134 88% 34k $510k (exactly $509,960) QCF Design
One Way Heroics older $3.49 3,503 94% 105k $367k (exactly $366,764) Smoking WOLF
Fate Seeker: Journey older $10.00 1,105 77% 33k $332k (exactly $331,500) JSL Entertainment
Desktop Dungeons: Rewind older $19.99 501 75% 15k $300k (exactly $300,450) QCF Design
Prime of Flames older $9.99 923 84% 28k $277k (exactly $276,623) RAYKA STUDIO
Tavern of Gods older $9.99 775 77% 23k $232k (exactly $232,268) Element Studio
Endgame of Devil older $6.99 964 88% 29k $202k (exactly $202,151) MiniWhale
Shattered Planet older $14.99 406 68% 12k $183k (exactly $182,578) Kitfox Games
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers $9.99 543 65% 16k $163k (exactly $162,737) Dino Rocket
Trials Survivors · EA $9.99 475 85% 14k $142k (exactly $142,358) Angry wisp
Reignbreaker $9.99 444 75% 13k $133k (exactly $133,067) Studio Fizbin
Flick Shot Rogues $14.99 295 87% 8.9k $133k (exactly $132,662) Butter By The Fish
Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko's Mystery Dungeon -Classic HD- $24.99 160 49% 4.8k $120k (exactly $119,952) Square Enix
Forsworn $15.99 187 90% 5.6k $90k (exactly $89,704) Resummon Studios LLC
Backpack Dungeon $3.99 656 87% 20k $79k (exactly $78,523) 夜喵
Infinite Cards $15.99 96 93% 2.9k $46k (exactly $46,051) Tubby Turtle Studios
Indies' Lies 2: Fire Seed $14.99 73 67% 2.2k $33k (exactly $32,828) Fun Square Games

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