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Should I ship an Interactive Fiction Card Battler?
Card Battler + Interactive Fiction
Only 16 developers shipped an Interactive Fiction 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, Forbidden Solitaire, 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, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.7 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $600; 1 in 20 cleared $1.0M, ×2267 the market median. Revenue is up 190% on the market; 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $599 (exactly $599) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $21k (exactly $21,333) |
| Top 5% | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 16 |
| Released games | 34 |
| Announced | 28 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 190% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 6%, 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
- Interactive Fiction
- effort 1 / 10 · high · prose plus a state machine
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Card Battler, Interactive Fiction; 5 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Visual Novel, Adventure, Card Game
- Price point
- $9.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $9.99.
The top 10 games average 93% positive over 2,708 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $600. 9 in 10 of the 8 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 28 games are announced against 9 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.
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 
Forbidden Solitaire 2026 · $1.1M 
Foretales 2022 · $467k 
Love of Magic 2020 · $188k 
Love of Magic Book 2: The War 2022 · $59k | 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 |
| | 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) | |
| | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
| | Love of Magic | older | $14.99 | 417 88% | 13k | $188k (exactly $187,525) | Droid Productions |
| | Love of Magic Book 2: The War | older | $14.99 | 132 93% | 4.0k | $59k (exactly $59,360) | Droid Productions |
 | Throne of Monsters 怪物的王座 | $12.99 | 130 92% | 3.9k | $51k (exactly $50,661) | 雏形游戏 | |
 | Love of Magic Book 3: The Return | older | $14.99 | 80 88% | 2.4k | $36k (exactly $35,976) | Droid Productions |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Lust Poker Club | $7.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | Cutie Booty | |
 | OMEGA 6 The Triangle Stars | $14.99 | 37 91% | 1.1k | $17k (exactly $16,639) | Takaya Imamura, Happymeal, Pleocene | |
 | Manic Magic Ciena's Desire | $12.99 | 22 68% | 660 | $8.6k (exactly $8,573) | Maidensoft | |
 | 末世信使 | · EA | $8.99 | 9 100% | 270 | $2.4k (exactly $2,427) | Qingyuan PixelBox Network Co., Ltd. |
 | NTR sex with bunny girl!? Strip poker in casino...! | $14.99 | 5 60% | 150 | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) | ハーフトーンドット | |
 | You Die Today | $7.99 | 7 71% | 210 | $1.7k (exactly $1,678) | Tabletale Games | |
 | Cauldron Caution | $9.99 | 5 100% | 150 | $1.5k (exactly $1,498) | Poisheesh |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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