Do I ship it?

Games › Dungeon Crawler › Dungeon Crawler + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Battler Dungeon Crawler?

Dungeon Crawler + Card Battler

Of 132 developers who shipped a Card Battler Dungeon Crawler 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.. 226 more are announced, ×2.8 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $2.8k, ×6.0 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $720; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2267 the market median. Revenue is down 75% on the market; 226 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 6.0 times the market baseline, revenue down 75% on the market, 226 announced, ×2.8 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Dungeon Crawler + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 132
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $9.4k → $64k → $34k → $17k → $13k → $11k → $1.4k (still earning) → $2.2k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Dungeon Crawler + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 132
Bottom 30% $719 (exactly $719)
Median $2.8k (exactly $2,844)
Top 25% $39k (exactly $39,207)
Top 5% $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926)
Developers, 2 yr 132
Released games 261
Announced 226
Effort 4 / 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 75% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 8%, 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.

Dungeon Crawler
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 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
4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
Systems
Dungeon Crawler, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, Strategy, Card Game
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Difficult
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.

The top 10 games average 69% positive over 244,335 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $720, median $2.8k, 1 in 4 over $39k, 1 in 20 over $1.0M.

3 in 10 developers made under $720. 7 in 10 of the 60 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 226 games are announced against 81 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.8 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Time ManagementFair35 devs · median $7.0k · 44 announced
  2. + GamblingFair16 devs · median $7.0k · 17 announced
  3. + DiceFair24 devs · median $5.1k · 32 announced
  4. + Artificial IntelligenceFair29 devs · median $2.3k · 38 announced
  5. + Local Co-OpFair49 devs · median $1.8k · 60 announced
  6. + ZombiesFair65 devs · median $1.0k · 74 announced
  7. + Word GameFair12 devs · median $899 · 15 announced
  8. + ThrillerFair45 devs · median $716 · 46 announced
  9. + Walking SimulatorFair59 devs · median $479 · 62 announced
  10. + Score AttackFair29 devs · median $479 · 33 announced
  11. + MMORPGPoor odds10 devs · median $144k · 80 announced
  12. + DwarvesPoor odds8 devs · median $55k · 30 announced

All 175 pairs on the Dungeon Crawler page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Slay the Spire 2019 · $144M Slay the Spire 2 2026 · EA · $138M 9 Kings 2025 · EA · $13M Across the Obelisk 2022 · $6.4M Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors 2026 · $5.6M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Slay the Spire older $24.99 191,765 97% 5.8M $144M (exactly $143,766,220) Mega Crit
Slay the Spire 2 · EA $24.99 183,764 61% 5.5M $138M (exactly $137,767,871) Mega Crit
9 Kings · EA $19.99 21,352 92% 641k $13M (exactly $12,804,794) Sad Socket
Across the Obelisk older $19.99 10,689 80% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) Dreamsite Games
Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors $9.99 18,587 96% 558k $5.6M (exactly $5,570,524) poncle, Nosebleed Interactive
Dicey Dungeons older $14.99 10,444 88% 313k $4.7M (exactly $4,696,667) Terry Cavanagh
Black Book older $24.99 5,306 93% 159k $4.0M (exactly $3,977,908) Morteshka
Super Fantasy Kingdom · EA $19.99 5,630 86% 169k $3.4M (exactly $3,376,311) Super Fantasy Games
HELLCARD older $24.99 3,368 86% 101k $2.5M (exactly $2,524,990) Thing Trunk
He is Coming · EA $19.99 3,834 84% 115k $2.3M (exactly $2,299,250) Chronocle
Die in the Dungeon $14.99 3,239 92% 97k $1.5M (exactly $1,456,578) ATICO
Forbidden Solitaire $15.99 2,245 96% 67k $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment)
Yao-Guai Hunter $16.99 2,082 83% 62k $1.1M (exactly $1,061,195) MyACG Studio
Breachway · EA $19.99 1,419 74% 43k $851k (exactly $850,974) Edgeflow Studio
LONESTAR $12.99 2,183 90% 65k $851k (exactly $850,715) Math Tide

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