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Should I ship an Alien Card Game?
Card Game + Aliens
Of 28 developers who shipped an Alien Card 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.. 44 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.8 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $70k, ×149 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 44 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $12k (exactly $12,142) |
| Top 5% | $71k (exactly $70,848) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 28 |
| Released games | 60 |
| Announced | 44 |
| 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 as many developers as 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Card Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 733 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 18 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 44 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Game with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SteampunkFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + DogsFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Board GameFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Nemesis: Lockdown 2022 · $549k 
Mineral Defense 2024 · $99k 
Stellar Orphans 2024 · $71k 
Clonizer 2025 · $66k 
Space Food Truck 2016 · $65k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Nemesis: Lockdown | older | $24.99 | 732 68% | 22k | $549k (exactly $548,780) | InterStudio |
| | Mineral Defense | $14.99 | 220 90% | 6.6k | $99k (exactly $98,934) | Corestone 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 | |
| | Space Food Truck | older | $9.99 | 216 71% | 6.5k | $65k (exactly $64,735) | One Man Left Studios |
 | Guardians of Dao | · EA | $19.99 | 63 74% | 1.9k | $38k (exactly $37,781) | George Financial Holding Ltd. |
 | Corrupted: Dawn of Havoc | · EA older | $14.99 | 75 65% | 2.3k | $34k (exactly $33,728) | 36Litters |
 | Smash Up | older | $6.99 | 141 60% | 4.2k | $30k (exactly $29,568) | Nomad Games |
 | Flaregate Network | $14.99 | 58 77% | 1.7k | $26k (exactly $26,083) | Keycard Studio, LLC | |
 | One Deck Galaxy | older | $12.99 | 55 70% | 1.7k | $21k (exactly $21,434) | Handelabra Games Inc. |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene | |
 | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer | |
 | Cult Leader Simulator | $17.99 | 16 50% | 480 | $8.6k (exactly $8,635) | Nhneno | |
 | 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 |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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