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Should I ship a Word Game Roguelite?
Roguelite + Word Game
Of 43 developers who shipped a Word Game 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.. 52 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×661 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 52 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $267 (exactly $267) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,155) |
| Top 25% | $18k (exactly $18,340) |
| Top 5% | $314k (exactly $313,891) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 43 |
| Released games | 70 |
| Announced | 52 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 50% on the market, supply 85% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 7%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Roguelite, Word Game; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelike, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics, Relaxing
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 7,424 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 52 games are announced against 28 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Roguelite with a different second tag, 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
Glyphica: Typing Survival 2024 · EA · $746k 
Pronoun Palace 2026 · $743k 
Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't 2026 · $314k 
懒人修仙传2 2022 · EA · $209k 
轮回修仙传 2025 · $162k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Glyphica: Typing Survival | · EA | $9.99 | 2,488 90% | 75k | $746k (exactly $745,654) | aliasBLACK |
| | Pronoun Palace | $19.84 | 1,249 99% | 37k | $743k (exactly $743,405) | Cadence Petersen, Hazel Fackler | |
| | Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't | $14.99 | 698 95% | 21k | $314k (exactly $313,891) | Buried Things | |
| | 懒人修仙传2 | · EA older | $7.99 | 873 71% | 26k | $209k (exactly $209,258) | 托更的修罗 |
| | 轮回修仙传 | $4.99 | 1,085 81% | 33k | $162k (exactly $162,424) | Collider Studio | |
 | Traditional Chinese Medicine Simulator | · EA older | $14.99 | 304 96% | 9.1k | $137k (exactly $136,709) | 曲波 |
 | Wordatro! | $9.99 | 401 85% | 12k | $120k (exactly $120,180) | Le Poulet | |
 | 挂机神话 | older | $1.99 | 1,693 90% | 51k | $101k (exactly $101,072) | 狮子 |
 | 小小侠客模拟器 | $2.99 | 1,103 86% | 33k | $99k (exactly $98,939) | 小小游戏 | |
 | Lost:Antinomy | older | $2.99 | 1,042 88% | 31k | $93k (exactly $93,467) | IMaiIna |
 | MORSE | $13.99 | 124 93% | 3.7k | $52k (exactly $52,043) | ALJO Games | |
 | Beyond Words | $14.99 | 102 84% | 3.1k | $46k (exactly $45,869) | MindFuel Games | |
 | TypInc. | $9.99 | 102 74% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,569) | Game Game Games | |
 | OMG Words | $9.99 | 72 79% | 2.2k | $22k (exactly $21,578) | Dave |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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