Do I ship it?

Games › Resource Management › Resource Management + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Battler Resource Management game?

Resource Management + Card Battler

Of 71 developers who shipped a Card Battler Resource 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.. 153 more are announced, ×3.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

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

The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $180; 1 in 20 cleared $120k, ×272 the market median. Revenue is down 55% on the market; 153 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.9 times the market baseline, revenue down 55% on the market, 153 announced, ×3.1 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Resource Management + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 71
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $151k → $4.6k → $7.3k → $1.2k → $449 (still earning) → $420 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Resource Management + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 71
Bottom 30% $179 (exactly $179)
Median $897 (exactly $897)
Top 25% $10k (exactly $10,195)
Top 5% $129k (exactly $128,991)
Developers, 2 yr 71
Released games 116
Announced 153
Effort 4 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

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 55% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 14%, 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.

Resource Management
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
Resource Management, Card Battler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Card Game, Strategy, Deckbuilding
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
Art
4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Relaxing
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 75% positive over 3,145 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $180, median $900, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $120k.

3 in 10 developers made under $180. 8 in 10 of the 25 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 153 games are announced against 50 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.1 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Resource Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + Artificial IntelligenceFair102 devs · median $11k · 131 announced
  2. + DwarvesFair15 devs · median $11k · 24 announced
  3. + WesternFair19 devs · median $7.0k · 26 announced
  4. + SnowFair24 devs · median $3.8k · 36 announced
  5. + JRPGFair36 devs · median $2.7k · 27 announced
  6. + UnderwaterFair51 devs · median $2.3k · 74 announced
  7. + CollectathonFair167 devs · median $1.9k · 222 announced
  8. + IncrementalFair630 devs · median $1.8k · 1,025 announced
  9. + IdlerFair656 devs · median $1.6k · 979 announced
  10. + ArcadeFair322 devs · median $1.5k · 495 announced
  11. + HorsesFair11 devs · median $1.2k · 18 announced
  12. + Quick-Time EventsFair46 devs · median $719 · 55 announced

All 214 pairs on the Resource Management page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Cardboard Town 2023 · $1.2M Out of the Park Baseball 26 2025 · $1.2M Tales & Tactics 2024 · $937k Cat God Ranch 2024 · $549k Card Cultivation 2026 · $312k
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
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
Tales & Tactics older $17.99 1,737 80% 52k $937k (exactly $937,459) Table 9 Studio
Cat God Ranch older $9.99 1,831 92% 55k $549k (exactly $548,751) CrazyPotato Studio
Card Cultivation $14.99 694 70% 21k $312k (exactly $312,092) DarkIndex
Blood Rage: Digital Edition older $19.99 477 58% 14k $286k (exactly $286,057) Endava
Stackmon $13.99 364 75% 11k $153k (exactly $152,771) Riftpoint Entertainment
Draft of Darkness older $14.99 336 94% 10k $151k (exactly $151,099) Crawly Games
Stack to Ascension $12.99 331 54% 9.9k $129k (exactly $128,991) Stack to Ascension
Artist Life Simulator older $19.99 173 79% 5.2k $104k (exactly $103,748) Interactive Fate
Snow Ash $14.99 179 73% 5.4k $80k (exactly $80,496) Ember Studio
Worlds Upon The Wind $9.99 238 99% 7.1k $71k (exactly $71,329) Max Shawabkeh
Stellar Orphans $16.99 139 71% 4.2k $71k (exactly $70,848) Artifex Parvus
All About Luck $10.99 134 91% 4.0k $44k (exactly $44,180) Flow Universe
The Dead Await $12.99 108 67% 3.2k $42k (exactly $42,088) Shotx
Brawl To The West $8.99 139 71% 4.2k $37k (exactly $37,488) GagaRush

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