Do I ship it?

Games › Local Multiplayer › Local Multiplayer + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Local Multiplayer Card Battler?

Local Multiplayer + Card Battler

Only 19 developers shipped a Local Multiplayer 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, Anode Heart: Layer Null, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 36 more are announced, ×3.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×4.5 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $900; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×229 the market median. Revenue is up 10% on the market; 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 4.5 times the market baseline, revenue up 10% on the market, 36 announced, ×3.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Local Multiplayer + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 19
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $359 → $3.0k → $29k → $719 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Local Multiplayer + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 19
Bottom 30% $899 (exactly $899)
Median $2.2k (exactly $2,158)
Top 25% $17k (exactly $17,019)
Top 5% $109k (exactly $108,892)
Developers, 2 yr 19
Released games 50
Announced 36
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 up 10% on the market, supply 40% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 16%, 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.

Local Multiplayer
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
Local Multiplayer, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, PvP, Strategy
Price point
$9.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Anime, Colorful
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 87% positive over 675 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $900, median $2.2k, 1 in 4 over $17k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $900. 8 in 10 of the 9 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 36 games are announced against 11 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + HockeyStrong odds11 devs · median $3.0k · 12 announced
  2. + Female ProtagonistFair61 devs · median $5.8k · 64 announced
  3. + Action RPGFair43 devs · median $5.5k · 56 announced
  4. + Hex GridFair12 devs · median $4.5k · 14 announced
  5. + ModernFair24 devs · median $3.6k · 16 announced
  6. + WargameFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  7. + TennisFair18 devs · median $2.3k · 10 announced
  8. + Point & ClickFair14 devs · median $2.0k · 8 announced
  9. + Artificial IntelligenceFair26 devs · median $1.8k · 27 announced
  10. + Football (American)Fair13 devs · median $1.8k · 4 announced
  11. + SportsFair196 devs · median $1.6k · 208 announced
  12. + RunnerFair23 devs · median $1.3k · 30 announced

All 174 pairs on the Local Multiplayer page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

ROUNDS 2021 · $6.4M SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION 2019 · $2.5M Ascension: Deckbuilding Game 2014 · $430k Blood Rage: Digital Edition 2020 · $286k Aeon's End 2019 · $197k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
ROUNDS older $5.99 35,738 95% 1.1M $6.4M (exactly $6,422,119) Landfall
SUPER DRAGON BALL HEROES WORLD MISSION older $59.99 1,404 82% 42k $2.5M (exactly $2,526,779) Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Lt… (Dimps Corporation, SAFARI GAMES Co., Ltd.)
Ascension: Deckbuilding Game older $9.99 1,435 88% 43k $430k (exactly $430,070) Playdek, Inc.
Blood Rage: Digital Edition older $19.99 477 58% 14k $286k (exactly $286,057) Endava
Aeon's End older $14.99 438 82% 13k $197k (exactly $196,969) Handelabra Games Inc.
Exploding Kittens® 2 older $12.49 447 75% 13k $167k (exactly $167,491) Marmalade Game Studio Ltd
Anode Heart: Layer Null $15.99 227 91% 6.8k $109k (exactly $108,892) Stove Powered Games
Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder $19.99 180 77% 5.4k $108k (exactly $107,946) Bigosaur
Spectromancer older $6.99 334 87% 10k $70k (exactly $70,040) Apus Software, Three Donkeys LLC
Yomi 2 $19.99 104 92% 3.1k $62k (exactly $62,369) Sirlin Games
Nature Game System $19.99 49 73% 1.5k $29k (exactly $29,385) North Star Digital Games
Gnaughty Gnomes $7.99 71 100% 2.1k $17k (exactly $17,019) SandCastles Studio
Hard Edge - War Zone $15.99 7 71% 210 $3.4k (exactly $3,358) SUNSOFT
Deck of Treads $7.99 13 100% 390 $3.1k (exactly $3,116) DuckByte Games
Insectum - Epic Battles of Bugs $9.99 10 100% 300 $3.0k (exactly $2,997) DevilishGames, Famosa by Giochi Preziosi
Roll & Win CASINO PARTY $11.99 8 87% 240 $2.9k (exactly $2,878) SAT-BOX
Vulcard · EA $11.99 6 100% 180 $2.2k (exactly $2,158) Goblin Games Studio

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