Games › Deckbuilding › Deckbuilding + Aliens
Should I ship an Alien Deckbuilding?
Deckbuilding + Aliens
Of 30 developers who shipped an Alien Deckbuilding 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 $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $98k, ×208 the market median. Revenue is down 90% on the market; 44 games are announced against 15 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $25k (exactly $24,850) |
| Top 5% | $99k (exactly $98,934) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 30 |
| Released games | 58 |
| 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 90% on the market, supply as many developers as the period before.
Free games: 10%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Deckbuilding
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card pools and run 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
- Deckbuilding; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Roguelite, Roguelike
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 1,897 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 19 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
Deckbuilding with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + AutomationFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SwordplayFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + LogicFair
- + LovecraftianPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + Visual NovelPoor odds
Comparable games
Down with the Ship 2026 · EA · $367k 
Kitchen Crisis 2024 · $140k 
Mineral Defense 2024 · $99k 
Stellar Orphans 2024 · $71k 
Clonizer 2025 · $66k | 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 |
| | Kitchen Crisis | older | $14.99 | 311 74% | 9.3k | $140k (exactly $139,857) | Team Samoyed |
| | 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 |
 | Steve's Warehouse: Physics. Roguelike. Chaos. | $7.99 | 130 87% | 3.9k | $31k (exactly $31,161) | Definitely Named Steve | |
 | Flaregate Network | $14.99 | 58 77% | 1.7k | $26k (exactly $26,083) | Keycard Studio, LLC | |
 | Kill the Brickman | $4.99 | 166 75% | 5.0k | $25k (exactly $24,850) | Doonutsaur | |
 | Inventorix | $4.99 | 131 100% | 3.9k | $20k (exactly $19,611) | Arcaludi | |
 | Card Coder | $14.99 | 27 74% | 810 | $12k (exactly $12,142) | Prof. Scherer |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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