Games › Card Battler › Card Battler + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Card Battler?
Card Battler + Aliens
Only 18 developers shipped an Alien Card Battler in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Down with the Ship, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.7k, ×5.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $360k, ×773 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $539 (exactly $539) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) |
| Top 25% | $17k (exactly $16,639) |
| Top 5% | $367k (exactly $367,405) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 18 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 4 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
- Aliens
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Card Battler; all of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Roguelite, Strategy
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 1,336 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 7 in 10 of the 14 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Battler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ArcadeFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + GamblingFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SolitaireLong shot
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + CRPGPoor odds
Comparable games
Down with the Ship 2026 · EA · $367k 
Stellar Orphans 2024 · $71k 
Clonizer 2025 · $66k 
Corrupted: Dawn of Havoc 2024 · EA · $34k 
Steve's Warehouse: Physics. Roguelike. Chaos. 2025 · $31k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Down with the Ship | · EA | $14.99 | 817 93% | 25k | $367k (exactly $367,405) | Iron Anchor Games |
| | Stellar Orphans | $16.99 | 139 71% | 4.2k | $71k (exactly $70,848) | Artifex Parvus | |
| | Clonizer | $14.99 | 146 82% | 4.4k | $66k (exactly $65,656) | Juicy Plume | |
| | Corrupted: Dawn of Havoc | · EA older | $14.99 | 75 65% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $33,728) | 36Litters |
| | Steve's Warehouse: Physics. Roguelike. Chaos. | $7.99 | 130 87% | 3.9k | $31k (exactly $31,161) | Definitely Named Steve | |
 | Planet Stronghold: Colonial Defense | older | $19.99 | 31 74% | 930 | $19k (exactly $18,591) | Winter Wolves |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene | |
 | Forsaken Portals | older | $18.99 | 24 75% | 720 | $14k (exactly $13,673) | Pottgames |
 | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Dark Cards | older | $9.99 | 23 69% | 690 | $6.9k (exactly $6,893) | Pixel Cattle Games |
 | Witchcrafter The TCG | $15.99 | 12 83% | 360 | $5.8k (exactly $5,756) | Spear Group Limited | |
 | Vox Populi: USA 2024 | $7.99 | 15 80% | 450 | $3.6k (exactly $3,596) | Velsin | |
 | Hexitten | $14.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $3.1k (exactly $3,148) | Korkea Maki Studios | |
 | Star Scum | · EA | $14.99 | 6 83% | 180 | $2.7k (exactly $2,698) | Soft Realm |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.