Games › Card Game › Card Game + Psychological
Should I ship a Psychological Card Game?
Card Game + Psychological
Of 34 developers who shipped a Psychological 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, ×2.5 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 3 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $720, ×1.5 the market's $480 for a 3 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $360; 1 in 20 cleared $81k, ×171 the market median. Revenue is down 60% on the market; 65 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $359 (exactly $359) |
|---|---|
| Median | $718 (exactly $718) |
| Top 25% | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) |
| Top 5% | $81k (exactly $81,058) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 34 |
| Released games | 54 |
| Announced | 65 |
| Effort | 3 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | High |
| 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 60% on the market, supply 225% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 24%, 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
- Psychological
- effort 3 / 10 · high · effort 3 sits in the high band
What it takes
- Effort
- 3 / 10 · small 2D action, light systems
- Systems
- Card Game; 4 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Strategy, Adventure, Card Battler
- Price point
- $5.99 typical · top 25% priced $12.99 or above
- Art
- 4 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Dark, Atmospheric, First-Person
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $12.99 or above; the middle game at $5.99.
The top 10 games average 87% positive over 2,322 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $360. 7 in 10 of the 11 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 65 games are announced against 26 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.5 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 
Death Howl 2025 · $780k 
Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator 2025 · $81k 
Photogenic Minds : Identity 2022 · $53k 
Deckline 2025 · $35k | 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 |
| | Death Howl | $19.99 | 1,301 92% | 39k | $780k (exactly $780,210) | The Outer Zone | |
| | Sanatorium - A Mental Asylum Simulator | $12.99 | 208 59% | 6.2k | $81k (exactly $81,058) | Zeitglas | |
| | Photogenic Minds : Identity | older | $19.99 | 89 88% | 2.7k | $53k (exactly $53,373) | 727 Not Hound |
| | Deckline | $3.99 | 294 86% | 8.8k | $35k (exactly $35,192) | Room Games, KREIDPIX | |
 | The Killing Stone | · EA | $12.99 | 79 94% | 2.4k | $31k (exactly $30,786) | Question |
 | Dreamcards | $9.99 | 82 98% | 2.5k | $25k (exactly $24,575) | Soneka Games | |
 | Deadly Heart Gambit | $6.99 | 107 90% | 3.2k | $22k (exactly $22,438) | Blink Hydrate ブリンク | |
 | Lust Poker Club | $7.99 | 89 78% | 2.7k | $21k (exactly $21,333) | Cutie Booty | |
 | Blackjack Descent | $7.99 | 88 79% | 2.6k | $21k (exactly $21,094) | CGI LAB GAMES | |
 | Dungeon Tells | $7.99 | 32 75% | 960 | $7.7k (exactly $7,670) | Ace Benoff | |
 | Circular Fallacy | $5.99 | 42 85% | 1.3k | $7.5k (exactly $7,547) | 非稳态物质-Unstable Matter |
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.