Do I ship it?

GamesWargameWargame + Card Battler

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Card Battler Wargame?

Wargame + Card Battler

Only 17 developers shipped a paid Card Battler Wargame in the last 2 years, too few for firm odds: the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.; the top game by est. revenue, Flowers and Deities, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 4 in 10 of the games here are free to play and sit outside these figures. 43 more are announced, ×3.6 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $720, ×1.1 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $120; 1 in 20 cleared $100k, ×164 the market median. Revenue is up 695% on the market; 43 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 1.1 times the market baseline, revenue up 695% on the market, 43 announced, ×3.6 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Wargame + Card Battler
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 17
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $1.0k → $6.4k → $719 (still earning) → $60 (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Wargame + Card Battler: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 17
Bottom 30% $120 (exactly $120)
Median $719 (exactly $719)
Top 25% $11k (exactly $10,522)
Top 5% $103k (exactly $103,270)
Developers, 2 yr 17
Released games 50
Announced 43
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 up 695% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 40%, 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.

Wargame
effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 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
5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
Systems
Wargame, Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Board Game, Deckbuilding
Price point
$7.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.

The top 10 games average 85% positive over 674 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $120, median $720, 1 in 4 over $10k, 1 in 20 over $100k.

3 in 10 developers made under $120. All of the 12 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 43 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year, ×3.6 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

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

  1. + Inventory ManagementFair21 devs · median $4.6k · 20 announced
  2. + Local MultiplayerFair28 devs · median $3.0k · 28 announced
  3. + NavalFair37 devs · median $2.4k · 37 announced
  4. + TabletopFair50 devs · median $1.1k · 57 announced
  5. + LogicFair20 devs · median $599 · 26 announced
  6. + Real-Time with PausePoor odds11 devs · median $37k · 24 announced
  7. + Real-TimePoor odds13 devs · median $37k · 17 announced
  8. + Co-opPoor odds43 devs · median $21k · 84 announced
  9. + StealthPoor odds10 devs · median $21k · 39 announced
  10. + DiplomacyPoor odds34 devs · median $17k · 59 announced
  11. + Colony SimPoor odds24 devs · median $16k · 55 announced
  12. + SandboxPoor odds82 devs · median $14k · 142 announced

All 147 pairs on the Wargame page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
Warhammer Underworlds - Shadespire Edition (Classic) older $29.99 1,059 70% 32k $953k (exactly $952,782) Steel Sky Productions, Tin Man Games
Unmatched: Digital Edition older $22.99 274 74% 8.2k $189k (exactly $188,978) Dire Wolf
Flowers and Deities $12.99 265 90% 8.0k $103k (exactly $103,270) Chill Winter Studio
Divine's Howl $9.99 169 89% 5.1k $51k (exactly $50,649) Sense13 Studio
Rainbow Legends $12.99 90 74% 2.7k $35k (exactly $35,073) Unpixel Cloud Cedar Studio
Vestiges: Fallen Tribes $24.99 36 80% 1.1k $27k (exactly $26,989) WanadevStudio
SGS Battle For: Stalingrad older $19.99 38 84% 1.1k $23k (exactly $22,789) Strategy Game Studio
SGS Afrika Korps: Tunisia older $24.99 15 80% 450 $11k (exactly $11,246) Strategy Game Studio
Boardlike · EA $12.99 27 70% 810 $11k (exactly $10,522) Bozz
Moonlight Chess $7.99 35 77% 1.1k $8.4k (exactly $8,390) MyDreamForever
⁤Square Wars · EA $4.99 43 79% 1.3k $6.4k (exactly $6,437) Gökhan Birçek
Battle Medal: Super Auto Chess Swarm War $7.99 5 80% 150 $1.2k (exactly $1,198) SOT烈
Ace of Space $7.99 3 100% 90 $719 (exactly $719) BigChunkyGames
Mech EVO $9.99 1 0% 30 $300 (exactly $300) Benedict King

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