Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Underground
Should I ship an Underground Roguelite?
Roguelite + Underground
Of 50 developers who shipped an Underground 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.. 100 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.8k, ×7.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.1k; 1 in 20 cleared $340k, ×722 the market median. Revenue is up 115% on the market; 100 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.0k (exactly $1,048) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.8k (exactly $3,775) |
| Top 25% | $11k (exactly $10,695) |
| Top 5% | $343k (exactly $343,028) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 107 |
| Announced | 100 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 115% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Roguelite
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Underground
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Roguelite; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Strategy, Adventure
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Pixel Graphics, 2D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 4,700 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.1k. 8 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 100 games are announced against 31 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Roguelite with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Real-TimeFair
- + ProgrammingFair
- + VampiresFair
- + TypingFair
- + Grand StrategyFair
- + IdlerFair
- + DogsFair
- + Walking SimulatorFair
- + Score AttackFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + LogicFair
- + DwarvesPoor odds
Comparable games
Lumencraft 2023 · $651k 
Never Return 2021 · EA · $610k 
Coal LLC 2025 · $604k 
Shroom and Gloom 2026 · EA · $439k 
Million Depth 2025 · $343k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Lumencraft | older | $19.99 | 1,086 75% | 33k | $651k (exactly $651,274) | 2Dynamic Games |
| | Never Return | · EA older | $13.99 | 1,453 73% | 44k | $610k (exactly $609,824) | YeMuNetWork |
| | Coal LLC | $14.99 | 1,343 92% | 40k | $604k (exactly $603,947) | Bye Bye Ocean | |
| | Shroom and Gloom | · EA | $14.99 | 977 91% | 29k | $439k (exactly $439,357) | Team Lazerbeam |
| | Million Depth | $16.99 | 673 93% | 20k | $343k (exactly $343,028) | Cyber Space Biotope | |
 | Time Walker: Dark World | older | $4.99 | 1,434 85% | 43k | $215k (exactly $214,670) | Heartfun |
 | Below the Stone | · EA older | $14.99 | 391 83% | 12k | $176k (exactly $175,833) | Strollart |
 | Goblin Dungeons | $17.99 | 291 83% | 8.7k | $157k (exactly $157,053) | Loolust | |
 | Kin and Quarry | $9.99 | 400 75% | 12k | $120k (exactly $119,880) | The Fox Knocks | |
 | Ants Took My Eyeball | older | $12.99 | 248 93% | 7.4k | $97k (exactly $96,646) | Bosmic Forge |
 | Backpack Dungeon | $3.99 | 656 87% | 20k | $79k (exactly $78,523) | 夜喵 | |
 | Deep Among the Swarm | $8.99 | 132 85% | 4.0k | $36k (exactly $35,600) | Pebble Mountain Games | |
 | Gem Miner TD | $12.99 | 72 97% | 2.2k | $28k (exactly $28,058) | iFeral Games | |
 | Soulbind: Tales Of The Underworld | $7.99 | 88 73% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $21,094) | Rubedo Games | |
 | Cthulhu's Reach: Devil Reef | $9.99 | 68 80% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $20,380) | The Fine Arc |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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