Games › Arcade › Arcade + Card Battler
Should I ship a Card Battler Arcade game?
Arcade + Card Battler
Of 68 developers who shipped a Card Battler Arcade 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.. 75 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×4.0 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $210. Revenue is up 125% on the market; 75 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $210 (exactly $210) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $5.7k (exactly $5,694) |
| Top 5% | $35k (exactly $35,463) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 68 |
| Released games | 124 |
| Announced | 75 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
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 125% on the market, supply 75% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Arcade
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Arcade, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 4,364 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 75 games are announced against 44 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair
- + TrainsFair
- + Visual NovelFair
- + MiningFair
- + FaithFair
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + DeckbuildingFair
- + LootFair
- + VampiresFair
- + RomanceFair
Comparable games
Balatro 2024 · $72M 
ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M 
SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION 2019 · $2.5M 
Drop Duchy 2025 · $1.3M 
Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't 2026 · $314k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Balatro | older | $14.99 | 160,715 97% | 4.8M | $72M (exactly $72,273,536) | LocalThunk |
| | ROUNDS | older | $5.99 | 35,738 95% | 1.1M | $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) | Landfall |
| | SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION | older | $59.99 | 1,404 82% | 42k | $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) | Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.) |
| | Drop Duchy | $14.99 | 2,962 89% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) | Sleepy Mill Studio | |
| | Cursed Words: The Word Game That Isn't | $14.99 | 698 95% | 21k | $314k (exactly $313,891) | Buried Things | |
 | Duelists of Eden | older | $4.99 | 856 95% | 26k | $128k (exactly $128,143) | Thomas Moon Kang |
 | Pro Jank Footy | $14.99 | 215 80% | 6.5k | $97k (exactly $96,686) | Powerbomb Games, Tinker Town | |
 | ploink | $12.99 | 91 96% | 2.7k | $35k (exactly $35,463) | Pyrocreep | |
 | TypInc. | $9.99 | 102 74% | 3.1k | $31k (exactly $30,569) | Game Game Games | |
 | Bearly Brave | $9.99 | 66 84% | 2.0k | $20k (exactly $19,780) | Barbaric Games | |
 | Cardburners | $9.99 | 58 98% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | GrosChevaux | |
 | Tabulo | $9.99 | 58 91% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | Noah Games | |
 | Moon Watch | · EA | $9.99 | 56 57% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $16,783) | Jaspel |
 | Order Automatica | $5.99 | 58 89% | 1.7k | $10k (exactly $10,423) | New Beings |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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