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Should I ship a Board Game Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Board Game
Of 60 developers who shipped a Board Game 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.. 74 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $450, ×0.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $59; 1 in 20 cleared $58k, ×92 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 74 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $59 (exactly $59) |
|---|---|
| Median | $450 (exactly $450) |
| Top 25% | $3.5k (exactly $3,507) |
| Top 5% | $58k (exactly $58,011) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 60 |
| Released games | 165 |
| Announced | 74 |
| Effort | 6 / 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 down 55% on the market, supply 95% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 28%, 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
- Board Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · effort 2 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Board Game; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Card Battler
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, 3D, Colorful
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 1,990 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $59. 8 in 10 of the 27 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 74 games are announced against 41 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Tabletop Simulator 2015 · $28M 
Faeria 2017 · $912k 
Supercar Collection Simulator 2025 · $595k 
Nowhere Prophet 2019 · $541k 
Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) 2017 · $459k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Tabletop Simulator | older | $19.99 | 46,875 95% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,110,937) | Berserk Games |
| | Faeria | older | $19.99 | 1,520 83% | 46k | $912k (exactly $911,544) | Abrakam Entertainment SA |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Nowhere Prophet | older | $24.99 | 721 77% | 22k | $541k (exactly $540,534) | Sharkbomb Studios |
| | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
 | Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp | older | $19.99 | 761 62% | 23k | $456k (exactly $456,372) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | Ascension: Deckbuilding Game | older | $9.99 | 1,435 88% | 43k | $430k (exactly $430,070) | Playdek, Inc. |
 | Heart of Crown PC | older | $24.99 | 528 80% | 16k | $396k (exactly $395,842) | illuCalab, FLIPFLOPs, Japanime Digital |
 | Heroes Wanted | older | $19.99 | 533 81% | 16k | $320k (exactly $319,640) | Gameplete |
 | Erannorth Chronicles | older | $20.99 | 407 85% | 12k | $256k (exactly $256,288) | Spyridon Thalassinos |
 | Culdcept The First | $29.99 | 95 74% | 2.9k | $85k (exactly $85,472) | CITY CONNECTION | |
 | Isle of Swaps | $14.99 | 129 90% | 3.9k | $58k (exactly $58,011) | Fuzz Force | |
 | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
 | Cardburners | $9.99 | 58 98% | 1.7k | $17k (exactly $17,383) | GrosChevaux | |
 | Card Summoner | $14.99 | 32 50% | 960 | $14k (exactly $14,390) | Happenstance Games | |
 | Areteion | $19.99 | 17 94% | 510 | $10k (exactly $10,195) | juxtapositioned | |
 | Ender theater | $9.99 | 28 50% | 840 | $8.4k (exactly $8,392) | FeatherRain | |
 | Wild Country | $24.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Lost Native | |
 | Reptilian Rising | $29.99 | 7 100% | 210 | $6.3k (exactly $6,298) | Gregarious Games, Robot Circus, Hyper L… (Gregarious Games, Robot Circus, Hyper Luminal Games) |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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