Games › Card Game › Card Game + Horror
Should I ship a Horror Card Game?
Card Game + Horror
Of 80 developers who shipped a Horror 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.. 126 more are announced, ×2.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 4 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $5.4k, ×11 the market's $480 for a 4 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $540; 1 in 20 cleared $720k, ×1523 the market median. Revenue is down 65% on the market; 126 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $538 (exactly $538) |
|---|---|
| Median | $5.4k (exactly $5,396) |
| Top 25% | $35k (exactly $35,192) |
| Top 5% | $723k (exactly $723,238) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 80 |
| Released games | 162 |
| Announced | 126 |
| 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 65% on the market, supply 110% 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.
What it takes
- Effort
- 4 / 10 · mid 2D, writing-heavy, or simple 3D
- Systems
- Card Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Deckbuilding, Card Battler
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $16.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, Story Rich, 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $16.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 89% positive over 13,838 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $540. 6 in 10 of the 34 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 126 games are announced against 54 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.3 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Card Game with a different setting or mood, 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
Inscryption 2021 · $81M 
Library Of Ruina 2021 · $37M 
WORLD OF HORROR 2023 · $5.4M 
Ring of Pain 2020 · $2.0M 
Menace from the Deep 2024 · $1.3M | Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Inscryption | older | $19.99 | 135,017 96% | 4.1M | $81M (exactly $80,969,695) | Daniel Mullins Games |
| | Library Of Ruina | older | $29.99 | 40,605 94% | 1.2M | $37M (exactly $36,532,318) | ProjectMoon |
| | WORLD OF HORROR | older | $19.99 | 8,991 89% | 270k | $5.4M (exactly $5,391,903) | panstasz |
| | Ring of Pain | older | $19.99 | 3,256 91% | 98k | $2.0M (exactly $1,952,623) | Simon Boxer, Twice Different |
| | Menace from the Deep | $16.99 | 2,466 84% | 74k | $1.3M (exactly $1,256,920) | Flat Lab | |
 | 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) | |
 | Decktamer | $15.99 | 2,069 86% | 62k | $992k (exactly $992,499) | Horizon Edge | |
 | Deck of Haunts | $19.99 | 1,206 84% | 36k | $723k (exactly $723,238) | Mantis | |
 | CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs | $4.99 | 2,752 96% | 83k | $412k (exactly $411,974) | Bastinus Rex | |
 | The Fabulous Fear Machine | older | $17.99 | 542 89% | 16k | $293k (exactly $292,517) | Fictiorama Studios |
 | The Horror at Highrook | $19.99 | 461 90% | 14k | $276k (exactly $276,462) | Nullpointer Games | |
 | Roots Devour | $14.99 | 479 68% | 14k | $215k (exactly $215,406) | Rewinding Games | |
 | Bogos Binted? | $5.49 | 1,134 91% | 34k | $187k (exactly $186,770) | underbadger | |
 | Shards of Order | $9.99 | 578 90% | 17k | $173k (exactly $173,227) | Fardust | |
 | Pirate's Gambit | $9.99 | 448 89% | 13k | $134k (exactly $134,266) | Domestic Black Cat |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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