Do I ship it?

Games › Action › Action + Deckbuilding

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Deckbuilding Action game?

Action + Deckbuilding

Of 224 developers who shipped a Deckbuilding 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.. 470 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×458 the market median. Revenue is up 15% on the market; 470 games are announced against 137 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 3.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 15% on the market, 470 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Action + Deckbuilding
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 224
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $6.9k → $1.1k → $955 → $3.0k → $2.2k → $2.2k → $2.9k (still earning) → $746 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Action + Deckbuilding: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 224
Bottom 30% $359 (exactly $359)
Median $1.9k (exactly $1,918)
Top 25% $12k (exactly $11,692)
Top 5% $287k (exactly $287,400)
Developers, 2 yr 224
Released games 451
Announced 470
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 up 15% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 17%, 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
Deckbuilding
effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run logic

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Action, Deckbuilding; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy
Price point
$5.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
Art
3 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 $5.99.

The top 10 games average 92% positive over 52,829 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $360, median $1.9k, 1 in 4 over $11k, 1 in 20 over $280k.

3 in 10 developers made under $360. 8 in 10 of the 100 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 470 games are announced against 137 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 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 INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road 2025 · $23M 暖雪 Warm Snow 2022 · $19M Magicraft 2024 · $7.2M ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M
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
INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road $69.99 11,180 88% 335k $23M (exactly $23,474,646) LEVEL5 Inc.
暖雪 Warm Snow older $17.99 35,270 92% 1.1M $19M (exactly $19,035,219) BadMudStudio
Magicraft $15.99 15,051 92% 452k $7.2M (exactly $7,219,965) Wave Games
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
In Falsus $39.99 788 89% 24k $945k (exactly $945,364) lowiro
Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection $39.99 657 96% 20k $788k (exactly $788,203) CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Border Pioneer $14.99 1,675 86% 50k $753k (exactly $753,248) Yahzj Games
Omelet You Cook $14.99 1,523 97% 46k $685k (exactly $684,893) Dan Schumacher, Hjalte Tagmose
Rogue Command $19.99 1,018 89% 31k $610k (exactly $610,495) feneq
Rune Dice $14.99 1,267 79% 38k $570k (exactly $569,770) Smart Raven Studio
OVIS LOOP · EA $16.99 1,083 88% 32k $552k (exactly $552,005) LIFUEL

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