Games › Simulation › Simulation + Card Battler
Should I ship a Card Battler Simulation game?
Simulation + Card Battler
Of 152 developers who shipped a Card Battler Simulation 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.. 182 more are announced.
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 $240; 1 in 20 cleared $800k, ×1276 the market median. Revenue is down 50% on the market; 182 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $239 (exactly $239) |
|---|---|
| Median | $1.9k (exactly $1,918) |
| Top 25% | $34k (exactly $34,166) |
| Top 5% | $801k (exactly $801,199) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 152 |
| Released games | 327 |
| Announced | 182 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $7.99 |
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 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 16%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Simulation
- 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
- Simulation, Card Battler; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Card Game
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 27,973 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $240. 7 in 10 of the 88 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 182 games are announced against 92 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Simulation with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Escape RoomStrong odds
- + World War IFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + PinballFair
- + Female ProtagonistFair
- + BirdsFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + MusicFair
- + Auto BattlerFair
- + ProgrammingFair
Comparable games
觅长生 2023 · $12M 
Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution 2020 · $4.7M 
Ratropolis 2020 · $2.8M 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist 2016 · $2.7M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | 觅长生 | older | $14.99 | 27,072 93% | 812k | $12M (exactly $12,174,278) | Chalcedony Network |
| | Stacklands | older | $7.99 | 29,244 96% | 877k | $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) | Sokpop Collective |
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution | older | $39.99 | 3,905 82% | 117k | $4.7M (exactly $4,684,828) | Other Ocean Emeryville |
| | Ratropolis | older | $17.99 | 5,187 87% | 156k | $2.8M (exactly $2,799,424) | Cassel Games |
| | Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist | older | $19.99 | 4,452 83% | 134k | $2.7M (exactly $2,669,864) | Other Ocean Interactive |
 | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
 | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
 | Slots & Daggers | $7.99 | 7,421 93% | 223k | $1.8M (exactly $1,778,814) | Friedemann | |
 | Retirement Simulator | · EA older | $13.99 | 3,757 34% | 113k | $1.6M (exactly $1,576,813) | DoubleThink Studio |
 | Drop Duchy | $14.99 | 2,962 89% | 89k | $1.3M (exactly $1,332,011) | Sleepy Mill Studio | |
 | Menace from the Deep | $16.99 | 2,466 84% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,256,920) | Flat Lab | |
 | Out of the Park Baseball 26 | $49.99 | 819 82% | 25k | $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) | Out of the Park Developments | |
 | Office Life | $19.99 | 1,725 88% | 52k | $1.0M (exactly $1,034,482) | LeiYun Games | |
 | Commander Quest | $11.99 | 2,804 74% | 84k | $1.0M (exactly $1,008,599) | Flyway Games, Inc. | |
 | Ballionaire | $12.34 | 2,398 85% | 72k | $888k (exactly $887,740) | newobject | |
 | As We Descend | · EA | $19.99 | 1,336 86% | 40k | $801k (exactly $801,199) | Box Dragon |
 | Guilty as Sock! | $5.50 | 4,836 89% | 145k | $798k (exactly $797,940) | Demon Max | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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