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Should I ship a Card Battler Base Building game?
Base Building + Card Battler
Of 21 developers who shipped a Card Battler Base Building 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.. 64 more are announced, ×6.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.0k, ×9.5 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.5k; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is up 180% on the market; 64 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) |
| Top 25% | $42k (exactly $42,088) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 21 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 64 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 up 180% on the market, supply 10% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Base Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Dark
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 81% positive over 5,991 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.5k. 6 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×6.4 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Base Building with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ProgrammingFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
- + SailingPoor odds
- + Dating SimPoor odds
- + TrainsPoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds
- + UndergroundPoor odds
- + MarsPoor odds
- + HistoricalPoor odds
Comparable games
Wildfrost 2023 · $4.9M 
Tainted Grail: Conquest 2021 · $4.6M 
Menace from the Deep 2024 · $1.3M 
Deck of Haunts 2025 · $723k 
Rune Coliseum 2024 · EA · $505k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Wildfrost | older | $19.99 | 8,175 82% | 245k | $4.9M (exactly $4,902,548) | Deadpan Games, Gaziter |
| | Tainted Grail: Conquest | older | $19.99 | 7,589 90% | 228k | $4.6M (exactly $4,551,123) | Questline |
| | Menace from the Deep | $16.99 | 2,466 84% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,256,920) | Flat Lab | |
| | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
| | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
 | WARCANA | older | $16.99 | 443 62% | 13k | $226k (exactly $225,797) | 1000 Orks |
 | Railroads & Catacombs | $19.99 | 358 73% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | MadRails | |
 | Berserk B.I.T.S | $6.99 | 667 81% | 20k | $140k (exactly $139,870) | BerserkBoy Games | |
 | Castle Cardians | · EA older | $14.99 | 113 72% | 3.4k | $51k (exactly $50,816) | 风宇冲 |
 | The Dead Await | $12.99 | 108 67% | 3.2k | $42k (exactly $42,088) | Shotx | |
 | Aurora Defense | · EA | $12.99 | 98 60% | 2.9k | $38k (exactly $38,191) | Moka Games |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Areteion | $19.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | juxtapositioned | |
 | Hand of Hexes | $11.99 | 26 96% | 780 | $9.4k (exactly $9,352) | emmdieh |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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