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Should I ship a Card Battler City Builder?
City Builder + Card Battler
Only 16 developers shipped a Card Battler City Builder 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, Deck of Haunts, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 28 more are announced, ×4.0 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $8.2k, ×13 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1152 the market median. Revenue is up 525% on the market; 28 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $718 (exactly $718) |
|---|---|
| Median | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) |
| Top 25% | $140k (exactly $139,870) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 47 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 6 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $10.99 |
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 525% on the market, supply 20% fewer developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- City Builder
- effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
- Systems
- City Builder, Card Battler
- Price point
- $10.99 typical
Why players buy here
The top 10 games average 88% positive over 3,836 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $720. 8 in 10 of the 10 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 7 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.0 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
City Builder with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Visual NovelStrong odds
- + LogicFair
- + IncrementalFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + ArcadeFair
- + RacingLong shot
- + RomePoor odds
- + Real-Time with PausePoor odds
- + HorrorPoor odds
- + Alternate HistoryPoor odds
- + Online Co-OpPoor odds
- + DiplomacyPoor odds
Comparable games
Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M 
Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M 
Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M 
Deck of Haunts 2025 · $723k 
Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder 2026 · $373k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stacklands | older | $7.99 | 29,244 96% | 877k | $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) | Sokpop Collective |
| | Ratropolis | older | $17.99 | 5,187 87% | 156k | $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) | Cassel Games |
| | Cardboard Town | older | $19.99 | 2,051 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) | Stratera Games, cukuto |
| | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
| | Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder | $9.99 | 1,244 97% | 37k | $373k (exactly $372,827) | Crux Games | |
 | Blood Rage: Digital Edition | older | $19.99 | 477 58% | 14k | $286k (exactly $286,057) | Endava |
 | Rogue Hex | $19.99 | 260 89% | 7.8k | $156k (exactly $155,922) | Topstitch Games | |
 | Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder | older | $19.99 | 244 61% | 7.3k | $146k (exactly $146,327) | Black Eye Games |
 | Berserk B.I.T.S | $6.99 | 667 81% | 20k | $140k (exactly $139,870) | BerserkBoy Games | |
 | 富甲天下4 | older | $9.99 | 385 73% | 12k | $115k (exactly $115,384) | T-Time Technology CO., LTD. |
 | Worlds Upon The Wind | $9.99 | 238 99% | 7.1k | $71k (exactly $71,329) | Max Shawabkeh | |
 | Aurora Defense | · EA | $12.99 | 98 60% | 2.9k | $38k (exactly $38,191) | Moka Games |
 | Paper Kingdom | $12.99 | 65 61% | 2.0k | $25k (exactly $25,330) | obece | |
 | Wild Country | $24.99 | 11 54% | 330 | $8.2k (exactly $8,247) | Lost Native | |
 | Seekers of Eclipse | $10.99 | 22 86% | 660 | $7.3k (exactly $7,253) | ThinKING Cat Games | |
 | CrafTAE | $7.99 | 25 88% | 750 | $6.0k (exactly $5,992) | mappe |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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