Games › Roguelite › Roguelite + Western
Should I ship a Western Roguelite?
Roguelite + Western
Of 32 developers who shipped a Western 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.. 42 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.1k, ×5.0 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $140k, ×223 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 42 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $600 (exactly $600) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.1k (exactly $3,144) |
| Top 25% | $28k (exactly $28,144) |
| Top 5% | $140k (exactly $140,194) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 32 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 42 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 down 85% on the market, supply 15% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 10%, 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
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Roguelite; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Procedural Generation, Action
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 3D, Atmospheric
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 1,875 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 7 in 10 of the 17 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 42 games are announced against 17 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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
West of Dead 2020 · $773k 
Colt Canyon 2020 · $694k 
Wild Bastards 2024 · $647k 
Bounty of One 2023 · $576k 
Soulslinger: Envoy of Death 2025 · $283k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | West of Dead | older | $19.99 | 1,289 76% | 39k | $773k (exactly $773,013) | Upstream Arcade |
| | Colt Canyon | older | $14.99 | 1,543 90% | 46k | $694k (exactly $693,887) | Retrific |
| | Wild Bastards | older | $34.99 | 616 74% | 18k | $647k (exactly $646,615) | Blue Manchu |
| | Bounty of One | older | $6.99 | 2,749 88% | 82k | $576k (exactly $576,465) | OptizOnion |
| | Soulslinger: Envoy of Death | $19.99 | 472 63% | 14k | $283k (exactly $283,058) | Elder Games | |
 | Super Amazing Wagon Adventure | older | $2.99 | 1,638 95% | 49k | $147k (exactly $146,929) | sparsevector |
 | Nightmare Frontier | $24.99 | 187 69% | 5.6k | $140k (exactly $140,194) | Ice Code Games | |
 | Dust & Neon | older | $14.99 | 284 76% | 8.5k | $128k (exactly $127,715) | David Marquardt Studios |
 | Graveyard Gunslingers | $7.99 | 224 58% | 6.7k | $54k (exactly $53,693) | PyroPhysics | |
 | Star Story: The Horizon Escape | older | $14.99 | 104 89% | 3.1k | $47k (exactly $46,769) | EvilCoGames |
 | Cowboy 3030 | $14.99 | 96 87% | 2.9k | $43k (exactly $43,171) | Soy Boy Games | |
 | Gold Miner:Classic Edition | $3.99 | 350 82% | 11k | $42k (exactly $41,895) | GameRival | |
 | Brawl To The West | $8.99 | 139 71% | 4.2k | $37k (exactly $37,488) | GagaRush | |
 | ColdRidge | $9.99 | 97 73% | 2.9k | $29k (exactly $29,071) | Frog Collective | |
 | Barrel Roll | $4.99 | 188 96% | 5.6k | $28k (exactly $28,144) | Barrel Roll | |
 | Bounty Trail | $6.99 | 84 52% | 2.5k | $18k (exactly $17,615) | September Games | |
 | WAGON | $10.99 | 38 94% | 1.1k | $13k (exactly $12,529) | de_husk |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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