Do I ship it?

Games › Card Battler › Card Battler + Dragons

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dragon Card Battler?

Card Battler + Dragons

Of 24 developers who shipped a Dragon 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.. 46 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $1.7k, ×2.7 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $230k, ×374 the market median. Revenue is up 170% on the market; 46 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 170% on the market, 46 announced, ×2.9 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Card Battler + Dragons
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 24
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $446 → $299 → $2.5k → $9.6k (still earning) → $16k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Card Battler + Dragons: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 24
Bottom 30% $299 (exactly $299)
Median $1.7k (exactly $1,678)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,584)
Top 5% $235k (exactly $234,989)
Developers, 2 yr 24
Released games 60
Announced 46
Effort 5 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $8.99

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 170% on the market, supply 100% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 32%, 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.

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

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Deckbuilding
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing, 3D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 81% positive over 2,087 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $300, median $1.7k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $230k.

3 in 10 developers made under $300. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 46 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Card Battler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + ArcadeFair68 devs · median $1.9k · 75 announced
  2. + Bullet HellFair24 devs · median $1.2k · 22 announced
  3. + GamblingFair64 devs · median $1.0k · 77 announced
  4. + 2D FighterFair10 devs · median $1.0k · 11 announced
  5. + ZombiesFair17 devs · median $839 · 22 announced
  6. + Point & ClickFair25 devs · median $629 · 34 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair35 devs · median $628 · 33 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair43 devs · median $449 · 57 announced
  9. + Party GameFair28 devs · median $449 · 35 announced
  10. + SolitaireLong shot77 devs · median $299 · 79 announced
  11. + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds33 devs · median $31k · 56 announced
  12. + CRPGPoor odds15 devs · median $25k · 28 announced

All 125 pairs on the Card Battler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

None Shall Intrude 2025 · $420k Ruff Ghanor 2024 · $261k Erannorth Chronicles 2021 · $256k Mamon King 2025 · $235k Batomon Showdown 2026 · $147k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
None Shall Intrude $14.99 934 73% 28k $420k (exactly $420,020) Aeterna Ludi
Ruff Ghanor older $19.99 435 85% 13k $261k (exactly $260,869) DX Gameworks
Erannorth Chronicles older $20.99 407 85% 12k $256k (exactly $256,288) Spyridon Thalassinos
Mamon King $12.99 603 90% 18k $235k (exactly $234,989) LiTMUS Co., Ltd.
Batomon Showdown $14.99 327 87% 9.8k $147k (exactly $147,052) berrymint
Kyvir: Rebirth · EA older $7.99 361 76% 11k $87k (exactly $86,532) Dawnblaze Entertainment
Dragon Front: Adventures $19.99 58 89% 1.7k $35k (exactly $34,783) High Voltage Software, Inc.
Spellsword Cards: Origins older $9.99 60 60% 1.8k $18k (exactly $17,982) One Up Plus Entertainment
Ariokan™ - create your cards, break the Meta $29.99 18 94% 540 $16k (exactly $16,195) Fatum Games SL
Auto Battle Girl $9.99 52 80% 1.6k $16k (exactly $15,584) Mutual Fun Studio
Warena $9.99 42 52% 1.3k $13k (exactly $12,587) Part Time Monkey
King of Tokyo - Richard Garfield $19.99 16 68% 480 $9.6k (exactly $9,595) Breakfirst
Crouching Tiger Hidden Hanafuda $10.99 12 91% 360 $4.0k (exactly $3,956) Garuru Software labs inc.
Dual Eclipse $4.99 25 100% 750 $3.7k (exactly $3,742) Curly Goblin Games

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