Do I ship it?

Games › Turn-Based Combat › Turn-Based Combat + Traditional Roguelike

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Traditional Roguelike Turn-Based Combat game?

Turn-Based Combat + Traditional Roguelike

Of 81 developers who shipped a Traditional Roguelike Turn-Based Combat game 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.. 107 more are announced.

Verdict: fair, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×3.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 90% on the market; 107 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 90% on the market, 107 announced, ×1.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Turn-Based Combat + Traditional Roguelike
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 81
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $599 → $5.9k → $4.6k → $899 → $2.5k → $2.2k (still earning) → $359 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Turn-Based Combat + Traditional Roguelike: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 81
Bottom 30% $300 (exactly $300)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Top 25% $6.4k (exactly $6,437)
Top 5% $185k (exactly $184,708)
Developers, 2 yr 81
Released games 143
Announced 107
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 90% on the market, supply 185% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 5%, 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 medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Turn-Based Combat
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Turn-Based Combat, Traditional Roguelike; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, RPG, Strategy
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 93% positive over 14,963 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $6.4k, 1 in 20 over $180k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 24 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 107 games are announced against 60 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Turn-Based Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + WuxiaStrong odds20 devs · median $19k · 21 announced
  2. + Hack and SlashStrong odds28 devs · median $3.7k · 27 announced
  3. + RomeFair8 devs · median $16k · 13 announced
  4. + CookingFair15 devs · median $6.0k · 22 announced
  5. + UndergroundFair18 devs · median $4.2k · 29 announced
  6. + IdlerFair52 devs · median $4.0k · 41 announced
  7. + DiceFair49 devs · median $2.2k · 59 announced
  8. + ArcadeFair59 devs · median $1.3k · 71 announced
  9. + Tower DefenseFair28 devs · median $839 · 34 announced
  10. + Artificial IntelligenceFair46 devs · median $719 · 52 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair26 devs · median $450 · 31 announced
  12. + RhythmPoor odds10 devs · median $86k · 16 announced

All 175 pairs on the Turn-Based Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Caves of Qud 2024 · $11M Low Magic Age 2017 · EA · $1.5M Soulash 2 2023 · EA · $1.4M Jupiter Hell 2021 · $1.3M Path of Achra 2024 · $949k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Caves of Qud $29.99 11,892 94% 357k $11M (exactly $10,699,232) Freehold Games
Low Magic Age · EA older $14.99 3,342 89% 100k $1.5M (exactly $1,502,897) Low Magic Studios
Soulash 2 · EA older $18.99 2,382 85% 71k $1.4M (exactly $1,357,025) Artur Smiarowski
Jupiter Hell older $24.99 1,795 91% 54k $1.3M (exactly $1,345,712) ChaosForge
Path of Achra older $9.99 3,166 98% 95k $949k (exactly $948,850) Ulfsire
Shattered Pixel Dungeon older $9.99 2,106 95% 63k $631k (exactly $631,168) Shattered Pixel
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island $39.99 470 85% 14k $564k (exactly $563,859) Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
Tangledeep older $14.99 1,075 82% 32k $483k (exactly $483,428) Impact Gameworks
Rift Wizard older $14.99 1,011 91% 30k $455k (exactly $454,647) Dylan White
Rift Wizard 2 $19.99 744 91% 22k $446k (exactly $446,177) Dylan White
House of Necrosis $11.99 581 94% 17k $209k (exactly $208,986) Warkus
Rift Wizard 3 · EA $19.99 308 88% 9.2k $185k (exactly $184,708) Dylan White, Khoops, Jacob Martinez
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
Jupiter Hell Classic · EA $14.99 230 95% 6.9k $103k (exactly $103,431) ChaosForge
Forsworn $15.99 187 90% 5.6k $90k (exactly $89,704) Resummon Studios LLC
Infinite Cards $15.99 96 93% 2.9k $46k (exactly $46,051) Tubby Turtle Studios

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