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Should I ship an Idler Card Battler?
Card Battler + Idler
Only 19 developers shipped a paid Idler Card Battler 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, Berserk B.I.T.S, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 5 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 30 more are announced.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.1k, ×2.3 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $270; 1 in 20 cleared $130k, ×294 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $269 (exactly $269) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) |
| Top 25% | $4.0k (exactly $3,950) |
| Top 5% | $140k (exactly $139,870) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 19 |
| Released games | 55 |
| Announced | 30 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 50% on the market, supply 435% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 47%, 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
- Idler
- effort 1 / 10 · high · number growth curves and a UI
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Card Battler, Idler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Card Game, Turn-Based Combat
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $9.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Cartoony, Cute
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $9.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 1,254 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $270. 8 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 30 games are announced against 16 developers who shipped in the last year.
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
Retirement Simulator 2022 · EA · $1.6M 
Berserk B.I.T.S 2025 · $140k 
The Girl's Moving Castle 2025 · $54k 
All About Luck 2026 · $44k 
中国战疫 2022 · $33k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
| | Berserk B.I.T.S | $6.99 | 667 81% | 20k | $140k (exactly $139,870) | BerserkBoy Games | |
| | The Girl's Moving Castle | $9.99 | 181 88% | 5.4k | $54k (exactly $54,246) | Destined game Studio | |
| | All About Luck | $10.99 | 134 91% | 4.0k | $44k (exactly $44,180) | Flow Universe | |
| | 中国战疫 | older | $16.99 | 64 76% | 1.9k | $33k (exactly $32,621) | 不吃蛋黄 |
 | Idle Quest Simulator | $4.99 | 183 78% | 5.5k | $27k (exactly $27,395) | 所以然 | |
 | Idle Banshee Alliance | older | $4.99 | 41 68% | 1.2k | $6.1k (exactly $6,138) | okyakusama |
 | Spin Forward | $3.99 | 33 78% | 990 | $4.0k (exactly $3,950) | Bean and Pea Studio | |
 | Pacremental | $3.99 | 23 100% | 690 | $2.8k (exactly $2,753) | Erocol | |
 | Brominion | $7.99 | 11 100% | 330 | $2.6k (exactly $2,637) | Hyralism | |
 | Unlimited Top - up | $9.99 | 7 42% | 210 | $2.1k (exactly $2,098) | 快乐蜗牛工作室 | |
 | Gene Crawl: Dungeon Descent | $6.99 | 6 50% | 180 | $1.3k (exactly $1,258) | Jabran | |
 | Empire of Zombies | $3.99 | 9 66% | 270 | $1.1k (exactly $1,077) | Tomasz Letki |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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