Games › Card Game › Card Game + Choose Your Own Adventure
Should I ship a Card Game Choose Your Own Adventure game?
Card Game + Choose Your Own Adventure
Of 59 developers who shipped a Card Game Choose Your Own Adventure 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.. 98 more are announced, ×2.9 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 2 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×19 the market's $120 for a 2 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $2.7M, ×22761 the market median. Revenue is up 150% on the market; 98 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $479 (exactly $479) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,248) |
| Top 25% | $19k (exactly $18,591) |
| Top 5% | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 59 |
| Released games | 152 |
| Announced | 98 |
| Effort | 2 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 150% on the market, supply 25% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 9%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is high: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Card Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
- Choose Your Own Adventure
- effort 2 / 10 · high · branching text with light state
What it takes
- Effort
- 2 / 10 · static 2D art, simple logic
- Systems
- Card Game, Choose Your Own Adventure; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry RPG, Adventure, Simulation
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $17.99 or above
- Art
- 5 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D, Story Rich
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $17.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 84% positive over 48,898 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $480. 8 in 10 of the 30 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 98 games are announced against 34 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.9 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Game with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + SteampunkFair
- + Immersive SimFair
- + Inventory ManagementFair
- + DogsFair
- + MahjongFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + GamblingFair
- + Point & ClickFair
- + Hidden ObjectFair
- + Board GameFair
- + PuzzleFair
- + Dating SimPoor odds
Comparable games
Sultan's Game 2025 · $19M 
The Bazaar 2025 · $9.0M 
Griftlands 2021 · $8.1M 
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
Hand of Fate 2015 · $4.8M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Sultan's Game | $24.99 | 25,061 93% | 752k | $19M (exactly $18,788,232) | Double Cross | |
| | The Bazaar | $19.99 | 14,931 70% | 448k | $9.0M (exactly $8,954,121) | Tempo | |
| | Griftlands | older | $19.99 | 13,440 93% | 403k | $8.1M (exactly $8,059,968) | Klei Entertainment |
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | Hand of Fate | older | $19.99 | 8,009 89% | 240k | $4.8M (exactly $4,802,997) | Defiant Development |
 | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
 | School Days | $14.99 | 6,023 77% | 181k | $2.7M (exactly $2,708,543) | 白雨工作室 | |
 | THE GAME OF LIFE 2 | older | $12.49 | 3,702 78% | 111k | $1.4M (exactly $1,387,139) | Marmalade Game Studio Ltd |
 | Reigns | older | $2.99 | 7,504 87% | 225k | $673k (exactly $673,109) | Nerial |
 | Foretales | older | $19.99 | 779 87% | 23k | $467k (exactly $467,166) | Alkemi |
 | Ways of Alchemy | $17.99 | 674 74% | 20k | $364k (exactly $363,758) | RocketBrush Games | |
 | Mamon King | $12.99 | 603 90% | 18k | $235k (exactly $234,989) | LiTMUS Co., Ltd. | |
 | Crown Gambit | $17.99 | 428 94% | 13k | $231k (exactly $230,992) | WILD WITS GAMES | |
 | Frostrain 2 | $10.99 | 374 89% | 11k | $123k (exactly $123,308) | nemonan | |
 | FUTA FUCKS FEMBOYS | $12.99 | 276 88% | 8.3k | $108k (exactly $107,557) | Horny Capybara Studio | |
 | Choice of Life: Wild Islands | $6.99 | 342 92% | 10k | $72k (exactly $71,717) | Blazing Planet Studio | |
 | Stash: A Card Looter | $9.99 | 186 79% | 5.6k | $56k (exactly $55,744) | WheeGaming |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.