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Should I ship a Zombie Card Battler?
Card Battler + Zombies
Only 17 developers shipped a Zombie Card Battler 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, The Dead Await, made about est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 22 more are announced.
Verdict: fair, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $840, ×1.3 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, with 3 in 10 under $300. Revenue is up 25% on the market; 22 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $299 (exactly $299) |
|---|---|
| Median | $839 (exactly $839) |
| Top 25% | $3.5k (exactly $3,507) |
| Top 5% | $42k (exactly $42,088) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 17 |
| Released games | 41 |
| Announced | 22 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $5.99 |
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 25% on the market, supply 140% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 17%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Card Battler
- effort 3 / 10 · high · card rules plus simple encounter logic
- Zombies
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Card Battler; 8 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Survival, Card Game, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 8 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 70% positive over 372 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $300. All of the 5 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 22 games are announced against 12 developers who shipped in the last year.
Adjacent niches
Card Battler with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.
- + ArcadeFair
- + Bullet HellFair
- + GamblingFair
- + 2D FighterFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + Traditional RoguelikeFair
- + Party GameFair
- + SolitaireLong shot
- + Asynchronous MultiplayerPoor odds
- + CRPGPoor odds
- + SandboxPoor odds
Comparable games
Knock on the Coffin Lid 2024 · $2.0M 
Necroking 2024 · $128k 
Demonlore 2022 · $56k 
The Dead Await 2026 · $42k 
病毒恶化 VirusCrisis 2019 · EA · $27k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Knock on the Coffin Lid | older | $24.99 | 2,727 82% | 82k | $2.0M (exactly $2,044,432) | RedBoon |
| | Necroking | older | $4.99 | 857 81% | 26k | $128k (exactly $128,293) | KORO.GAMES |
| | Demonlore | older | $19.99 | 94 85% | 2.8k | $56k (exactly $56,372) | Barrel Smash Studios |
| | The Dead Await | $12.99 | 108 67% | 3.2k | $42k (exactly $42,088) | Shotx | |
| | 病毒恶化 VirusCrisis | · EA older | $7.00 | 129 67% | 3.9k | $27k (exactly $27,090) | S.T.T |
 | Deliverance & Reign | older | $7.99 | 106 80% | 3.2k | $25k (exactly $25,408) | One Up Plus |
 | Apocalypse: The Last RV | · EA | $4.99 | 159 68% | 4.8k | $24k (exactly $23,802) | 光年切片工作室 |
 | Cards of the Dead | older | $7.99 | 95 75% | 2.9k | $23k (exactly $22,772) | Boomfire Games |
 | Atomic Cards | older | $9.99 | 38 73% | 1.1k | $11k (exactly $11,389) | SerVG |
 | The Dark Horde | · EA older | $6.99 | 44 95% | 1.3k | $9.2k (exactly $9,227) | Matt Storm |
 | Zombie Epoch:Deck Apocalypse | $7.99 | 27 62% | 810 | $6.5k (exactly $6,472) | HY Indie Game | |
 | Cat Guardian | $7.99 | 19 84% | 570 | $4.6k (exactly $4,554) | Yaeegy | |
 | Deadwalker Chronicles | · EA | $12.99 | 9 33% | 270 | $3.5k (exactly $3,507) | Black Phoenix Studio |
 | Wukong Survivors ：Begin | $2.99 | 18 100% | 540 | $1.6k (exactly $1,615) | Seal233 | |
 | Spin to Survive | $2.99 | 16 93% | 480 | $1.4k (exactly $1,435) | Seal | |
 | GAME (not) OVER | $4.99 | 8 100% | 240 | $1.2k (exactly $1,198) | The Croissant Crusaders | |
 | 重生之时 - Rebirth Moment | $6.99 | 4 0% | 120 | $839 (exactly $839) | Polatouche Studio | |
 | Deckalypse | $4.99 | 4 100% | 120 | $599 (exactly $599) | Jazzoid Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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