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Should I ship an Auto Battler Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Auto Battler
Of 22 developers who shipped a paid Auto Battler Trading 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.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 27 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $3.4k, ×5.4 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $210k, ×346 the market median. Revenue is down 80% on the market; 27 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $719 (exactly $719) |
|---|---|
| Median | $3.4k (exactly $3,420) |
| Top 25% | $39k (exactly $38,661) |
| Top 5% | $217k (exactly $217,249) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 22 |
| Released games | 57 |
| Announced | 27 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $9.99 |
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 80% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 46%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Trading Card Game
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Auto Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Auto Battler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Battler, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,895 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 20 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 27 games are announced against 13 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Trading Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Immersive SimStrong odds
- + SandboxFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + Procedural GenerationPoor odds
- + TradingPoor odds
- + Life SimPoor odds
- + CollectathonPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
- + Co-opPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + EconomyPoor odds
Comparable games
Rogue Voltage 2026 · $284k 
Villages & Dungeons 2025 · $217k 
Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers 2025 · $163k 
Water Margin Scrolls 2026 · $73k 
Stash: A Card Looter 2025 · $56k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
| | Villages & Dungeons | $6.99 | 1,036 91% | 31k | $217k (exactly $217,249) | CaCaFrog Studio | |
| | Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers | $9.99 | 543 65% | 16k | $163k (exactly $162,737) | Dino Rocket | |
| | Water Margin Scrolls | $9.99 | 244 40% | 7.3k | $73k (exactly $73,127) | QingHe Games | |
| | Stash: A Card Looter | $9.99 | 186 79% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | WheeGaming | |
 | Islets Defense | $9.99 | 129 94% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | MiniGoof | |
 | CyberTD | older | $19.99 | 50 66% | 1.5k | $30k (exactly $29,985) | Clockwork Origins |
 | Meta Card Backpack Legend | $7.99 | 68 97% | 2.0k | $16k (exactly $16,300) | KY Games | |
 | NOVEMS | $9.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $13k (exactly $12,587) | MediaLabGames | |
 | Royal Merchant | older | $4.99 | 75 62% | 2.3k | $11k (exactly $11,228) | Badim |
 | Soul•Apocalypto | $11.99 | 20 80% | 600 | $7.2k (exactly $7,194) | 卜乙冈(Ploygon) | |
 | Curtain Call: Chronicles of Heroes | $5.99 | 34 67% | 1.0k | $6.1k (exactly $6,110) | Life Trust Foundation |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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