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Should I ship a Card Game Management game?
Management + Card Game
Of 165 developers who shipped a Card Game Management 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.. 235 more are announced, ×2.1 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.2k, ×3.6 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $280k, ×449 the market median. Revenue is down 45% on the market; 235 games are announced against 114 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $449 (exactly $449) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.2k (exactly $2,246) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $26,618) |
| Top 5% | $282k (exactly $281,723) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 165 |
| Released games | 296 |
| Announced | 235 |
| 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 down 45% on the market, supply 110% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Management
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Card Game
- effort 2 / 10 · high · rules engine and card data
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Management, Card Game; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Strategy, Deckbuilding
- Price point
- $7.99 typical · top 25% priced $14.99 or above
- Art
- 6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with 2D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $14.99 or above; the middle game at $7.99.
The top 10 games average 94% positive over 66,098 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 65 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 235 games are announced against 114 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.1 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Management with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + RomeFair
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + WesternFair
- + Artificial IntelligenceFair
- + JRPGFair
- + MinigamesFair
- + RhythmFair
- + UnderwaterFair
- + CollectathonFair
- + DwarvesFair
- + 3D FighterFair
- + IncrementalFair
Comparable games
TCG Card Shop Simulator 2026 · $28M 
Stacklands 2022 · $7.0M 
Cultist Simulator 2018 · $6.3M 
Kingdoms Reborn 2020 · EA · $5.3M 
Potionomics 2022 · $5.2M | 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 | |
| | Stacklands | older | $7.99 | 29,244 96% | 877k | $7.0M (exactly $7,009,787) | Sokpop Collective |
| | Cultist Simulator | older | $19.99 | 10,496 82% | 315k | $6.3M (exactly $6,294,451) | Weather Factory |
| | Kingdoms Reborn | · EA older | $19.99 | 8,862 90% | 266k | $5.3M (exactly $5,314,541) | Earthshine |
| | Potionomics | older | $24.99 | 6,973 90% | 209k | $5.2M (exactly $5,227,658) | Voracious Games |
 | I Was a Teenage Exocolonist | older | $24.99 | 4,443 96% | 133k | $3.3M (exactly $3,330,917) | Northway Games |
 | BOOK OF HOURS | older | $24.99 | 4,129 89% | 124k | $3.1M (exactly $3,095,511) | Weather Factory |
 | Esports Godfather | older | $19.99 | 4,319 90% | 130k | $2.6M (exactly $2,590,104) | Asteroid Game Studio |
 | Terraformers | older | $19.99 | 3,031 88% | 91k | $1.8M (exactly $1,817,691) | Asteroid Lab |
 | Matchmaking Inc. | $8.99 | 5,773 87% | 173k | $1.6M (exactly $1,556,978) | Wave Games | |
 | Tiny Pasture | $5.99 | 7,055 92% | 212k | $1.3M (exactly $1,267,784) | CaveLiquid | |
 | Supercar Collection Simulator | $12.99 | 1,528 85% | 46k | $595k (exactly $595,462) | Kiki Games | |
 | Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder | $9.99 | 1,244 97% | 37k | $373k (exactly $372,827) | Crux Games | |
 | Card Cultivation | $14.99 | 694 70% | 21k | $312k (exactly $312,092) | DarkIndex | |
 | Aotenjo: Infinite Hands | · EA | $9.99 | 958 87% | 29k | $287k (exactly $287,113) | XO Cat |
 | NUTMEG! A Nostalgic Deckbuilding Football Manager | $24.99 | 378 89% | 11k | $283k (exactly $283,387) | Sumo Digital, Sumo Digital Academy | |
 | SkyBrew: Entropic Strategist | $17.99 | 522 75% | 16k | $282k (exactly $281,723) | ATRIC Games | |
 | Anime Shop Simulator ✨ | $14.99 | 589 73% | 18k | $265k (exactly $264,873) | One More Time |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
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