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Should I ship a Card Game Base Building game?
Base Building + Card Game
Of 50 developers who shipped a Card Game 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.. 97 more are announced, ×4.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.6k, ×10 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $1.9k; 1 in 20 cleared $740k, ×1192 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 97 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $1.9k (exactly $1,884) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.6k (exactly $6,593) |
| Top 25% | $99k (exactly $98,934) |
| Top 5% | $749k (exactly $748,760) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 50 |
| Released games | 85 |
| Announced | 97 |
| Effort | 5 / 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 65% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 14%, 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 Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Base Building, Card Game; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $18.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $18.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 10,552 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $1.9k. 6 in 10 of the 29 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 97 games are announced against 22 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.4 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
Kingdoms Reborn 2020 · EA · $5.3M 
Wildfrost 2023 · $4.9M 
Tainted Grail: Conquest 2021 · $4.6M 
Menace from the Deep 2024 · $1.3M 
Warriors of the Nile 2020 · $940k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Kingdoms Reborn | · EA older | $19.99 | 8,862 90% | 266k | $5.3M (exactly $5,314,541) | Earthshine |
| | 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 | |
| | Warriors of the Nile | older | $12.99 | 2,412 79% | 72k | $940k (exactly $939,956) | Stove Studio |
 | Border Pioneer | $14.99 | 1,675 86% | 50k | $753k (exactly $753,248) | Yahzj Games | |
 | Card Survival: Fantasy Forest | · EA | $21.99 | 1,135 76% | 34k | $749k (exactly $748,760) | WinterSpring Games |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | Warriors of the Nile 2 | older | $14.99 | 1,180 88% | 35k | $531k (exactly $530,646) | Stove Studio |
 | Rune Coliseum | · EA | $18.99 | 886 79% | 27k | $505k (exactly $504,754) | Rafale Software |
 | There Are No Orcs | $8.99 | 1,188 93% | 36k | $320k (exactly $320,404) | BaseTrade Studio | |
 | SkyBrew: Entropic Strategist | $17.99 | 522 75% | 16k | $282k (exactly $281,723) | ATRIC Games | |
 | Cube Chaos | $11.99 | 621 95% | 19k | $223k (exactly $223,374) | Wunarg | |
 | Railroads & Catacombs | $19.99 | 358 73% | 11k | $215k (exactly $214,693) | MadRails | |
 | Kingdom's Deck | $9.99 | 495 72% | 15k | $148k (exactly $148,352) | Ivan Aco |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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