Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Card Game

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Game Action game?

Action + Card Game

Of 147 developers who shipped a Card Game Action 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.. 281 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $750, ×1.2 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $110k, ×184 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 281 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.2 times the market baseline, revenue down 35% on the market, 281 announced, ×3.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Card Game
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 147
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.9k → $449 → $897 → $2.1k → $1.1k → $540 → $1.8k (still earning) → $449 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Card Game: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 147
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $748 (exactly $748)
Top 25% $5.2k (exactly $5,240)
Top 5% $116k (exactly $115,573)
Developers, 2 yr 147
Released games 398
Announced 281
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $5.99

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 35% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 21%, 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.

Action
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Card Game
effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Card Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 43,656 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $750, 1 in 4 over $5.2k, 1 in 20 over $110k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 9 in 10 of the 75 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 281 games are announced against 89 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Action with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseFair16 devs · median $103k · 18 announced
  2. + Job SimulatorFair25 devs · median $14k · 30 announced
  3. + PinballFair42 devs · median $2.6k · 48 announced
  4. + Escape RoomFair43 devs · median $1.8k · 40 announced
  5. + Football (American)Fair16 devs · median $1.3k · 6 announced
  6. + BaseballFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 12 announced
  7. + BilliardsFair19 devs · median $958 · 25 announced
  8. + IdlerFair225 devs · median $898 · 292 announced
  9. + TennisFair23 devs · median $628 · 12 announced
  10. + Time AttackFair90 devs · median $599 · 110 announced
  11. + TabletopFair71 devs · median $505 · 86 announced
  12. + WuxiaPoor odds9 devs · median $189k · 36 announced

All 288 pairs on the Action page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Library Of Ruina 2021 · $37M Neon White 2022 · $13M UNO 2017 · $13M ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M Book of Demons 2018 · $6.0M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Library Of Ruina older $29.99 40,605 94% 1.2M $37M (exactly $36,532,318) ProjectMoon
Neon White older $24.99 17,259 97% 518k $13M (exactly $12,939,072) Angel Matrix
UNO older $9.99 42,019 70% 1.3M $13M (exactly $12,593,094) Ubisoft Entertainment
ROUNDS older $5.99 35,738 95% 1.1M $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) Landfall
Book of Demons older $24.99 8,010 91% 240k $6.0M (exactly $6,005,097) Thing Trunk
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors $9.99 18,587 96% 558k $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) poncle, Nosebleed Interactive
Hand of Fate older $19.99 8,009 89% 240k $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) Defiant Development
Hand of Fate 2 older $29.99 5,273 84% 158k $4.7M (exactly $4,744,118) Defiant Development
Tainted Grail: Conquest older $19.99 7,589 90% 228k $4.6M (exactly $4,551,123) Questline
Gamble With Your Friends $7.99 18,883 89% 566k $4.5M (exactly $4,526,255) TEAM GWYF
Demon Lord: Just a Block $12.99 2,065 96% 62k $805k (exactly $804,730) YuWave
Border Pioneer $14.99 1,675 86% 50k $753k (exactly $753,248) Yahzj Games
Rune Coliseum · EA $18.99 886 79% 27k $505k (exactly $504,754) Rafale Software
9th Dawn Remake $15.99 514 86% 15k $247k (exactly $246,566) Valorware
the cabin game · EA $11.99 362 86% 11k $130k (exactly $130,211) Twisted Corridor👻
Godslayer Arena · EA $14.99 257 76% 7.7k $116k (exactly $115,573) Hippo Rider Games
Golden Swirl $19.99 149 92% 4.5k $89k (exactly $89,355) Snako Production
Forest Heroes $9.99 278 83% 8.3k $83k (exactly $83,317) Hoochoo Game Studios

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