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Should I ship a Collectathon Card Game?
Collectathon + Card Game
Of 52 developers who shipped a Collectathon Card 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.. 65 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $900, ×1.9 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $210; 1 in 20 cleared $260k, ×558 the market median. Revenue is down 35% on the market; 65 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $208 (exactly $208) |
|---|---|
| Median | $898 (exactly $898) |
| Top 25% | $7.1k (exactly $7,130) |
| Top 5% | $265k (exactly $264,873) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 52 |
| Released games | 103 |
| Announced | 65 |
| Effort | 4 / 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 down 35% on the market, supply 30% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 15%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Collectathon
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
- Card Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Collectathon, Card Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Life Sim, Management, Simulation
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with First-Person, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 95% positive over 50,864 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $210. 9 in 10 of the 28 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 30 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Collectathon with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + Job SimulatorStrong odds
- + CapitalismStrong odds
- + Turn-BasedFair
- + EconomyFair
- + ManagementFair
- + CrimeFair
- + Level EditorFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + SokobanFair
- + MythologyFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + Combat RacingFair
Comparable games
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Supercar Collection Simulator 2025 · $595k 
Anime Shop Simulator ✨ 2026 · $265k 
9th Dawn Remake 2024 · $247k 
Sumire 2021 · $159k | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | TCG Card Shop Simulator | $19.99 | 47,357 96% | 1.4M | $28M (exactly $28,399,993) | OPNeon Games | |
| | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
| | Anime Shop Simulator ✨ | $14.99 | 589 73% | 18k | $265k (exactly $264,873) | One More Time | |
| | 9th Dawn Remake | $15.99 | 514 86% | 15k | $247k (exactly $246,566) | Valorware | |
| | Sumire | older | $5.99 | 887 95% | 27k | $159k (exactly $159,394) | GameTomo Team |
 | Placid Plastic Deck - A Quiet Quest | $12.99 | 208 80% | 6.2k | $81k (exactly $81,058) | turbolento games, Fantastico Studio | |
 | TCG Multiplayer Card Shop Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 198 54% | 5.9k | $77k (exactly $77,161) | Alkame Games |
 | Sunshine Shuffle | older | $9.99 | 156 76% | 4.7k | $47k (exactly $46,753) | Strange Scaffold |
 | SOULVARS | older | $16.99 | 70 78% | 2.1k | $36k (exactly $35,679) | ginolabo, SUCCESS Corp. |
 | Table Battle Simulator | · EA | $12.99 | 85 74% | 2.6k | $33k (exactly $33,124) | Kiki Games |
 | Gold and Graves | $5.99 | 180 86% | 5.4k | $32k (exactly $32,346) | Yoon | |
 | FeeBay Simulator | $5.99 | 167 91% | 5.0k | $30k (exactly $30,010) | Lake Country Games | |
 | Deadhaus Sonata | · EA | $19.99 | 38 68% | 1.1k | $23k (exactly $22,789) | Apocalypse Studios |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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