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Should I ship a Building Trading Card Game?
Trading Card Game + Building
Only 13 developers shipped a Building Trading Card Game in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $570k, ×922 the market median. Revenue is down 95% on the market; 22 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $719 (exactly $719) |
| Top 25% | $9.4k (exactly $9,440) |
| Top 5% | $579k (exactly $578,757) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 13 |
| Released games | 27 |
| Announced | 22 |
| 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 95% on the market, supply 235% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 11%, 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
- Building
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- Trading Card Game, Building
- Price point
- $9.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 82% positive over 1,825 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 22 games are announced against 10 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 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
- + Auto BattlerPoor odds
- + Roguelike DeckbuilderPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
Comparable games
Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer 2025 · $579k 
Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) 2017 · $459k 
Aeon's End 2019 · $197k 
Variables 2 2021 · $188k 
12 Labours of Hercules II: The Cretan Bull 2015 · $156k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
| | Rento Fortune: Online Dice Board Game (大富翁) | older | $4.99 | 3,063 50% | 92k | $459k (exactly $458,531) | LAN - GAMES LTD |
| | Aeon's End | older | $14.99 | 438 82% | 13k | $197k (exactly $196,969) | Handelabra Games Inc. |
| | Variables 2 | older | $14.99 | 418 90% | 13k | $188k (exactly $187,975) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | 12 Labours of Hercules II: The Cretan Bull | older | $2.99 | 1,736 90% | 52k | $156k (exactly $155,719) | Jetdogs Studios, Zoom Out Games |
 | Vertical Kingdom | older | $19.99 | 113 75% | 3.4k | $68k (exactly $67,766) | Farlight Games Industry |
 | Islets Defense | $9.99 | 129 94% | 3.9k | $39k (exactly $38,661) | MiniGoof | |
 | Monstrix TCG Card Shop | $9.99 | 34 55% | 1.0k | $10k (exactly $10,190) | Revolt Games | |
 | DVD Store Simulator | · EA | $8.99 | 35 57% | 1.1k | $9.4k (exactly $9,440) | AltF4 Games |
 | Tavrik | $11.99 | 6 100% | 180 | $2.2k (exactly $2,158) | Nyra Games | |
 | DECK COLLECTOR | · EA | $11.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $1.1k (exactly $1,079) | AEROBORN Games |
 | Rampallians | · EA | $7.99 | 3 66% | 90 | $719 (exactly $719) | Electric Brain Games |
 | Rise of the Settlement | · EA | $9.99 | 2 100% | 60 | $599 (exactly $599) | Luki |
 | Block Sprawl | $14.99 | 1 100% | 30 | $450 (exactly $450) | Koding Nights | |
 | CardFarm | · EA | $2.99 | 3 100% | 90 | $269 (exactly $269) | axel_hollow |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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