Do I ship it?

Games › Tactical › Tactical + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Battler Tactical game?

Tactical + Card Battler

Of 216 developers who shipped a Card Battler Tactical 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.. 351 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $1.4k, ×2.3 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $240; 1 in 20 cleared $490k, ×794 the market median. Revenue is down 85% on the market; 351 games are announced against 141 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 2.3 times the market baseline, revenue down 85% on the market, 351 announced, ×2.5 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Tactical + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 216
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.2k → $4.6k → $1.3k → $5.7k → $9.6k → $3.1k → $719 (still earning) → $150 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Tactical + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 216
Bottom 30% $240 (exactly $240)
Median $1.4k (exactly $1,438)
Top 25% $16k (exactly $15,529)
Top 5% $498k (exactly $498,351)
Developers, 2 yr 216
Released games 451
Announced 351
Effort 6 / 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 85% on the market, supply 90% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 22%, 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.

Tactical
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 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
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Tactical, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Card Game
Price point
$8.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.

The top 10 games average 82% positive over 47,544 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $240, median $1.4k, 1 in 4 over $15k, 1 in 20 over $490k.

3 in 10 developers made under $240. 8 in 10 of the 90 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 351 games are announced against 141 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Football (American)Strong odds12 devs · median $5.8k · 8 announced
  2. + Mystery DungeonStrong odds20 devs · median $2.5k · 15 announced
  3. + Dating SimFair13 devs · median $11k · 9 announced
  4. + 6DOFFair14 devs · median $2.4k · 19 announced
  5. + Word GameFair23 devs · median $1.8k · 12 announced
  6. + TypingFair16 devs · median $1.2k · 9 announced
  7. + DwarvesFair7 devs · median $1.0k · 10 announced
  8. + Traditional RoguelikeFair38 devs · median $987 · 57 announced
  9. + Dynamic NarrationFair13 devs · median $899 · 16 announced
  10. + Farming SimFair12 devs · median $897 · 10 announced
  11. + SolitaireFair25 devs · median $479 · 22 announced
  12. + LGBTQ+Fair20 devs · median $479 · 21 announced

All 226 pairs on the Tactical page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Marvel's Midnight Suns 2022 · $31M The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M Backpack Battles 2025 · $8.5M Across the Obelisk 2022 · $6.4M Gordian Quest 2022 · $3.2M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Marvel's Midnight Suns older $59.99 17,060 82% 512k $31M (exactly $30,702,882) Firaxis Games
The Bazaar $19.99 14,931 70% 448k $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) Tempo
Backpack Battles $14.99 18,933 91% 568k $8.5M (exactly $8,514,170) PlayWithFurcifer
Across the Obelisk older $19.99 10,689 80% 321k $6.4M (exactly $6,410,193) Dreamsite Games
Gordian Quest older $19.99 5,259 88% 158k $3.2M (exactly $3,153,822) Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holding… (Mixed Realms Pte Ltd, Swag Soft Holdings Pte Ltd)
Esports Godfather older $19.99 4,319 90% 130k $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) Asteroid Game Studio
天外武林 (Traveler of Wuxia) older $24.99 3,151 85% 95k $2.4M (exactly $2,362,305) 香港商河洛互動娛樂股份有限公司
Out of the Park Baseball 26 $49.99 819 82% 25k $1.2M (exactly $1,228,254) Out of the Park Developments
Deep Sky Derelicts older $19.99 1,985 73% 60k $1.2M (exactly $1,190,404) Snowhound Games
Cross Blitz $22.99 1,557 74% 47k $1.1M (exactly $1,073,863) Tako Boy Studios LLC
Commander Quest $11.99 2,804 74% 84k $1.0M (exactly $1,008,599) Flyway Games, Inc.
Oaken Tower · EA $9.99 3,024 89% 91k $906k (exactly $906,293) Bocary Studios
LONESTAR $12.99 2,183 90% 65k $851k (exactly $850,715) Math Tide
Death Howl $19.99 1,301 92% 39k $780k (exactly $780,210) The Outer Zone
Card-en-Ciel $24.99 856 90% 26k $642k (exactly $641,743) INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
Knightica $14.99 1,136 74% 34k $511k (exactly $510,859) Mad Mango Games

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