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Should I ship a Card Battler Management game?
Management + Card Battler
Of 81 developers who shipped a Card Battler Management game 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.. 106 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $1.9k, ×3.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $310k, ×497 the market median. Revenue is down 15% on the market; 106 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $22k (exactly $22,178) |
| Top 5% | $312k (exactly $312,092) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 81 |
| Released games | 129 |
| Announced | 106 |
| 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 down 15% on the market, supply 65% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management, Card Battler; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Simulation
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $15.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Pixel Graphics
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $15.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 83% positive over 7,543 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 8 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 106 games are announced against 51 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M 
Esports Godfather 2024 · $2.6M 
Banners of Ruin 2021 · $1.4M 
Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M 
Out of the Park Baseball 26 2025 · $1.2M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Stacklands | older | $7.99 | 29,244 96% | 877k | $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) | Sokpop Collective |
| | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
| | Banners of Ruin | older | $19.99 | 2,298 79% | 69k | $1.4M (exactly $1,378,111) | MonteBearo |
| | Cardboard Town | older | $19.99 | 2,051 79% | 62k | $1.2M (exactly $1,229,985) | Stratera Games, cukuto |
| | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Tower Tactics: Liberation | older | $19.99 | 1,224 88% | 37k | $734k (exactly $734,033) | asraworks |
 | Card Shop Simulator Multiplayer | $11.99 | 1,609 82% | 48k | $579k (exactly $578,757) | ShaneGame | |
 | Cat God Ranch | older | $9.99 | 1,831 92% | 55k | $549k (exactly $548,751) | CrazyPotato Studio |
 | Knightica | $14.99 | 1,136 74% | 34k | $511k (exactly $510,859) | Mad Mango Games | |
 | Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder | $9.99 | 1,244 97% | 37k | $373k (exactly $372,827) | Crux Games | |
 | Card Cultivation | $14.99 | 694 70% | 21k | $312k (exactly $312,092) | DarkIndex | |
 | Rogue Voltage | $15.99 | 593 92% | 18k | $284k (exactly $284,462) | Horizont Computergrafik | |
 | NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager | $24.99 | 378 89% | 11k | $283k (exactly $283,387) | Sumo Digital, Sumo Digital Academy | |
 | Turnbound | $14.99 | 446 78% | 13k | $201k (exactly $200,566) | 1TK | |
 | Rogue Hex | $19.99 | 260 89% | 7.8k | $156k (exactly $155,922) | Topstitch Games | |
 | Stackmon | $13.99 | 364 75% | 11k | $153k (exactly $152,771) | Riftpoint Entertainment |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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