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Should I ship a Visual Novel Card Battler?
Card Battler + Visual Novel
Of 48 developers who shipped a Visual Novel Card Battler 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.. 64 more are announced, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $6.5k, ×14 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $300; 1 in 20 cleared $1.3M, ×2789 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 64 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $6.5k (exactly $6,476) |
| Top 25% | $38k (exactly $38,224) |
| Top 5% | $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 48 |
| Released games | 108 |
| Announced | 64 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 up 100% on the market, supply 20% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 13%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
- Visual Novel
- effort 2 / 10 · high · script, choices and static art
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Card Battler, Visual Novel; 7 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Deckbuilding, RPG, Adventure
- Price point
- $8.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Story Rich, 2D, Anime
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $8.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 10,655 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. 7 in 10 of the 26 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 64 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Battler with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ArcadeFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + GamblingFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + ZombiesFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SolitaireLong shot
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + CRPGPoor odds
Comparable games
Library Of Ruina 2021 · $37M 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist : Link Evolution 2020 · $4.7M 
StarVaders 2025 · $2.8M 
Rebellion GODSOUL: Awakening 2025 · EA · $1.3M 
Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2 2025 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Library Of Ruina | older | $29.99 | 40,605 94% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,532,318) | ProjectMoon |
| | 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 |
| | StarVaders | $24.99 | 3,760 97% | 113k | $2.8M (exactly $2,818,872) | Pengonauts | |
| | Rebellion GODSOUL: Awakening | · EA | $17.99 | 2,458 85% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,326,583) | U-Secret Studio |
| | Cardfight!! Vanguard Dear Days 2 | $69.99 | 631 67% | 19k | $1.3M (exactly $1,324,911) | FURYU Corporation, LANCARSE Ltd. | |
 | Forbidden Solitaire | $15.99 | 2,245 96% | 67k | $1.1M (exactly $1,076,926) | Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertai… (Grey Alien Games, Night Signal Entertainment) | |
 | Resist the succubus—The end of the female Knight | older | $16.99 | 1,370 74% | 41k | $698k (exactly $698,289) | BoRoBoRoGame |
 | Danganronpa S: Ultimate Summer Camp | older | $19.99 | 761 62% | 23k | $456k (exactly $456,372) | Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. |
 | Shadowhand: RPG Card Game | older | $16.99 | 668 82% | 20k | $340k (exactly $340,480) | Grey Alien Games |
 | Lewd Gym | older | $9.99 | 709 92% | 21k | $212k (exactly $212,487) | 樹懶叫工作室, sloth gamer, Maker製造機 |
 | Shambles: Sons of Apocalypse | $19.99 | 340 77% | 10k | $204k (exactly $203,898) | EXLIX | |
 | All in Abyss: Judge the Fake | $15.99 | 375 54% | 11k | $180k (exactly $179,888) | ACQUIRE Corp., WSS playground | |
 | Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter | $14.99 | 314 90% | 9.4k | $141k (exactly $141,206) | Mango Factory | |
 | Sinners Landing | $19.99 | 180 86% | 5.4k | $108k (exactly $107,946) | Flexible Media | |
 | FUTA FUCKS FEMBOYS | $12.99 | 276 88% | 8.3k | $108k (exactly $107,557) | Horny Capybara Studio | |
 | Karigurashi Ren'ai: Living on Borrowed Love | $29.99 | 76 92% | 2.3k | $68k (exactly $68,377) | ASa Project |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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