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Should I ship a Choose Your Own Adventure Card Battler?
Card Battler + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 29 developers who shipped a Choose Your Own Adventure Card Battler 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.. 51 more are announced, ×3.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×495 the market median. Revenue is up 215% on the market; 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $50k (exactly $50,366) |
| Top 5% | $235k (exactly $234,989) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 29 |
| Released games | 68 |
| Announced | 51 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 215% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Card Battler, Choose Your Own Adventure; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Adventure, Card Game
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Anime, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 72% positive over 16,586 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 16 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 51 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Battler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ArcadeFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + GamblingFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SolitaireLong shot
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + CRPGPoor odds
Comparable games
The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M 
Griftlands 2021 · $8.1M 
Foretales 2022 · $467k 
Ash of Gods: The Way 2023 · $312k 
Mamon King 2025 · $235k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | The Bazaar | $19.99 | 14,931 70% | 448k | $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) | Tempo | |
| | Griftlands | older | $19.99 | 13,440 93% | 403k | $8.1M (exactly $8,059,968) | Klei Entertainment |
| | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
| | Ash of Gods: The Way | older | $24.99 | 416 80% | 12k | $312k (exactly $311,875) | AurumDust |
| | Mamon King | $12.99 | 603 90% | 18k | $235k (exactly $234,989) | LiTMUS Co., Ltd. | |
 | Love of Magic | older | $14.99 | 417 88% | 13k | $188k (exactly $187,525) | Droid Productions |
 | Castle Morihisa | older | $14.99 | 348 66% | 10k | $156k (exactly $156,496) | Smokingbear Studio |
 | Fatermyth | older | $9.99 | 486 81% | 15k | $146k (exactly $145,654) | KDream |
 | FUTA FUCKS FEMBOYS | $12.99 | 276 88% | 8.3k | $108k (exactly $107,557) | Horny Capybara Studio | |
 | Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love | $29.99 | 76 92% | 2.3k | $68k (exactly $68,377) | ASa Project | |
 | Stash: A Card Looter | $9.99 | 186 79% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | WheeGaming | |
 | Succubless | $11.99 | 146 67% | 4.4k | $53k (exactly $52,516) | Supa Doge | |
 | Throne of Monsters 怪物的王座 | $12.99 | 130 92% | 3.9k | $51k (exactly $50,661) | 雏形游戏 | |
 | Takara Cards | $14.99 | 112 83% | 3.4k | $50k (exactly $50,366) | Post Mortem Pixels | |
 | Lust Poker Club | $7.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | Cutie Booty | |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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