Do I ship it?

Games › Arcade › Arcade + Solitaire

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Solitaire Arcade game?

Arcade + Solitaire

Of 36 developers who shipped a Solitaire 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.. 24 more are announced.

Verdict: dead, for a 3 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $180 in the last 2 years and $180 over 4, against a market of $480 for a 3 / 10 build. 20 developers shipped in the last year and 24 games are announced.

Deciding numbers: median 0.4 times the market baseline, revenue down 10% on the market, 24 announced, ×1.2 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Arcade + Solitaire
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 36
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $358 → $178 → $2.2k → $120 → $891 → $450 → $1.2k (still earning) → $179 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Arcade + Solitaire: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 36
Bottom 30% $60 (exactly $60)
Median $179 (exactly $179)
Top 25% $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 5% $46k (exactly $45,965)
Developers, 2 yr 36
Released games 119
Announced 24
Effort 3 / 10
AI-buildability High
Typical price $3.99

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 10% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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 high: the lowest rating among its tags.

Arcade
effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
Solitaire
effort 1 / 10 · high · fixed rules, cards and a table

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
Systems
Arcade, Solitaire; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
Price point
$3.99 typical · top 25% priced $8.40 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful, Pixel Graphics
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $8.40 or above; the middle game at $3.99.

The top 10 games average 91% positive over 1,265 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $60, median $180, 1 in 4 over $1.6k, 1 in 20 over $45k.

3 in 10 developers made under $60. 9 in 10 of the 22 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 24 games are announced against 20 developers who shipped in the last year.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Arcade with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Roguelike DeckbuilderFair59 devs · median $4.3k · 88 announced
  2. + TrainsFair20 devs · median $3.1k · 16 announced
  3. + Visual NovelFair101 devs · median $2.6k · 84 announced
  4. + MiningFair91 devs · median $2.2k · 125 announced
  5. + FaithFair16 devs · median $2.2k · 15 announced
  6. + Turn-BasedFair35 devs · median $2.2k · 32 announced
  7. + EconomyFair199 devs · median $2.1k · 285 announced
  8. + LGBTQ+Fair72 devs · median $2.1k · 61 announced
  9. + DeckbuildingFair170 devs · median $1.9k · 234 announced
  10. + Card BattlerFair68 devs · median $1.9k · 75 announced
  11. + LootFair147 devs · median $1.9k · 215 announced
  12. + VampiresFair34 devs · median $1.9k · 35 announced

All 270 pairs on the Arcade page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Last Call BBS 2022 · $732k Dice People 2025 · $64k Roll 2021 · $61k Egyptian Senet 2015 · $60k Mosaics Galore 2018 · $50k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Last Call BBS older $19.99 1,220 94% 37k $732k (exactly $731,634) Zachtronics
Dice People $2.99 719 90% 22k $64k (exactly $64,494) Mateusk2m, Manodeix
Roll older $4.99 407 91% 12k $61k (exactly $60,928) Joseph Distler
Egyptian Senet older $9.99 200 81% 6.0k $60k (exactly $59,940) Ezzat Studios
Mosaics Galore older $14.99 111 75% 3.3k $50k (exactly $49,917) Creobit
Merge Maestro $3.99 384 93% 12k $46k (exactly $45,965) Stingless
Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Klondike Solitaire older $6.99 135 86% 4.1k $28k (exactly $28,310) Eastasiasoft Limited
Otoko Cross: Pretty Boys Mahjong Solitaire older $6.99 132 86% 4.0k $28k (exactly $27,680) Eastasiasoft Limited
Cribbish $4.99 65 81% 2.0k $9.7k (exactly $9,730) Fence Post Games
Forgotten Tales: Day of the Dead older $9.99 27 62% 810 $8.1k (exactly $8,092) Green Sauce Games
Wrangle Ranch $5.99 21 95% 630 $3.8k (exactly $3,774) BenBonk, XraiDev
Royal's Gambit $14.99 6 100% 180 $2.7k (exactly $2,698) 96 Games Studio
Picaro $6.99 12 100% 360 $2.5k (exactly $2,516) Nightforge Studios
Fortiori $8.40 9 100% 270 $2.3k (exactly $2,268) 79GAMES
XIII - A Final Game of Tarot With Death $1.99 34 91% 1.0k $2.0k (exactly $2,030) Indigo Dreams
Battle Hanafuda · EA $7.99 7 100% 210 $1.7k (exactly $1,678) SUZUKI PLAN, Yoji Suzuki
Fish Box $4.99 8 62% 240 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) DoXMo

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