Do I ship it?

Games › Combat › Combat + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Combat Card Battler?

Combat + Card Battler

Of 145 developers who shipped a Combat 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.. 269 more are announced, ×3.4 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $600, level with the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $150; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×379 the market median. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 269 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.0 times the market baseline, revenue up 25% on the market, 269 announced, ×3.4 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Combat + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 145
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.6k → $12k → $2.3k → $4.3k → $598 → $4.3k → $475 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Combat + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 145
Bottom 30% $150 (exactly $150)
Median $599 (exactly $599)
Top 25% $4.8k (exactly $4,794)
Top 5% $238k (exactly $237,782)
Developers, 2 yr 145
Released games 269
Announced 269
Effort 5 / 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 up 25% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 26%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Combat
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
Card Battler
effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Combat, Card Battler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Roguelike
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
7 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 86% positive over 57,891 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $150, median $600, 1 in 4 over $4.7k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $150. 8 in 10 of the 80 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 269 games are announced against 80 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.4 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Combat with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Real-Time with PauseStrong odds14 devs · median $15k · 12 announced
  2. + 4XFair32 devs · median $3.8k · 48 announced
  3. + TypingFair20 devs · median $2.2k · 26 announced
  4. + VampiresFair54 devs · median $1.9k · 64 announced
  5. + SnowFair21 devs · median $1.2k · 24 announced
  6. + Walking SimulatorFair51 devs · median $599 · 61 announced
  7. + Match 3Long shot13 devs · median $359 · 16 announced
  8. + Open World Survival CraftPoor odds32 devs · median $55k · 85 announced
  9. + Political SimPoor odds14 devs · median $49k · 22 announced
  10. + Extraction ShooterPoor odds21 devs · median $31k · 47 announced
  11. + Dating SimPoor odds23 devs · median $19k · 45 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Poor odds52 devs · median $16k · 90 announced

All 248 pairs on the Combat page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors 2026 · $5.6M Aces & Adventures 2023 · $1.3M Card-en-Ciel 2024 · $642k
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
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors $9.99 18,587 96% 558k $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) poncle, Nosebleed Interactive
Aces & Adventures older $19.99 2,220 89% 67k $1.3M (exactly $1,331,334) Triple.B.Titles
Card-en-Ciel $24.99 856 90% 26k $642k (exactly $641,743) INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
Big Bia older $14.99 1,296 69% 39k $583k (exactly $582,811) Pixel House Games
Knightica $14.99 1,136 74% 34k $511k (exactly $510,859) Mad Mango Games
Foretales older $19.99 779 87% 23k $467k (exactly $467,166) Alkemi
Down with the Ship · EA $14.99 817 93% 25k $367k (exactly $367,405) Iron Anchor Games
Epic Auto Towers · EA $14.99 768 70% 23k $345k (exactly $345,370) Aleksandr Golovkin
Fickle Card Legend $7.99 992 67% 30k $238k (exactly $237,782) 偶尔不帅
Turnbound $14.99 446 78% 13k $201k (exactly $200,566) 1TK
The Royal Writ $14.99 425 80% 13k $191k (exactly $191,122) Save Sloth Studios

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.