Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Villain Protagonist
Should I ship a Villain-Led Roguelite?
Roguelite + Villain Protagonist
Only 9 developers shipped a Villain-Led 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, None Shall Intrude, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 31 more are announced, ×7.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: dead, for a 4 / 10 build.
Only 4 developers shipped this in the last year, under the 5 a verdict needs; over 2 years the middle one made $28k against a market of $480. 31 games are announced.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $28k (exactly $28,331) |
| Top 25% | $248k (exactly $247,552) |
| Top 5% | $420k (exactly $420,020) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 9 |
| Released games | 32 |
| Announced | 31 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $14.99 |
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 95% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, 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
- Villain Protagonist
- 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
- Price point
- $14.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 76% positive over 3,006 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 3 in 10 of the 7 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 31 games are announced against 4 developers who shipped in the last year, ×7.8 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
Skul: The Hero Slayer 2021 · $30M 
Iratus: Lord of the Dead 2020 · $6.5M 
Luck be a Landlord 2023 · $3.1M 
Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager 2021 · $2.4M 
Be My Horde 2024 · EA · $615k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Skul: The Hero Slayer | older | $19.99 | 50,801 93% | 1.5M | $30M (exactly $30,465,360) | SOUTHPAW GAMES |
| | Iratus: Lord of the Dead | older | $29.99 | 7,206 84% | 216k | $6.5M (exactly $6,483,238) | Unfrozen |
| | Luck be a Landlord | older | $9.99 | 10,213 93% | 306k | $3.1M (exactly $3,060,836) | TrampolineTales |
| | Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager | older | $19.99 | 3,939 79% | 118k | $2.4M (exactly $2,362,218) | Goblinz Studio |
| | Be My Horde | · EA older | $9.99 | 2,052 85% | 62k | $615k (exactly $614,984) | Polished Games |
 | None Shall Intrude | $14.99 | 934 73% | 28k | $420k (exactly $420,020) | Aeterna Ludi | |
 | The Unliving | older | $16.99 | 762 62% | 23k | $388k (exactly $388,391) | RocketBrush Games |
 | Dungeon Warfare 3 | $18.99 | 679 78% | 20k | $387k (exactly $386,826) | Excidium Inc., Valsar | |
 | Pizza Possum | older | $6.99 | 1,800 93% | 54k | $377k (exactly $377,460) | Friedemann, Noio Games |
 | Space Tyrant | older | $19.99 | 549 83% | 16k | $329k (exactly $329,235) | Blue Wizard Digital |
 | Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival | $9.99 | 826 77% | 25k | $248k (exactly $247,552) | RetroStyle Games | |
 | Few Nights More | $14.99 | 382 81% | 11k | $172k (exactly $171,785) | Aeterna Ludi | |
 | Munch | $16.66 | 96 60% | 2.9k | $48k (exactly $47,981) | Mac n Cheese Games | |
 | My Infamous Dungeon | $14.99 | 63 76% | 1.9k | $28k (exactly $28,331) | BoxFox Studios | |
 | Tome of the Damned | $7.99 | 20 60% | 600 | $4.8k (exactly $4,794) | Redtower Games | |
 | Reverse Survivors | $3.99 | 4 75% | 120 | $479 (exactly $479) | Holiver Studios | |
 | Struggler | $5.99 | 1 0% | 30 | $180 (exactly $180) | Bulanke | |
 | Slay The Hero | $4.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $150 (exactly $150) | Emerald Knight Interactive 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.